Five people had to be rescued by helicopter after their boat got stuck in the mud.

The emergency services were called to Royal Terrace pier in Gravesend just before 7pm on Saturday.

Their motor boat had become grounded a short distance away from the shore.

A crew from Thames-side fire station and the Gravesend RNLI team attended the scene and the search and rescue helicopter was later scrambled.

A spokesman for the RNLI said: “The boat was very close to the shore but the decision was made to airlift the casualties out by helicopter rather than take them across the mud.”