RNLI volunteers rescued a boat from the shipping lanes of the channel last night.

The lifeboat was launched at 5.15pm yesterday after a 24ft fishing vessel suffered engine failure around eight miles out in the channel, in the busy shipping lanes.

Mark Finnis, from Dover RNLI, said: “Thankfully this job turned out to be a routine call in fine weather but the risk of a boat drifting in the busiest shipping lanes in the world meant that a fast response was vital.”

City of London II lifeboat was launched with a crew of seven.

On arrival at the scene a tow was quickly established and the casualty vessel and two passengers were towed back to Dover by 7.20pm.