A lifeboat went out on the hunt-for a fridge freezer floating in the sea yesterday.

Dover’s City of London II went searching after crew members form a DFDS Seaways ferry spotted the object bobbing on the English Channel 15 miles from the port.

Dover RNLI spokesman Ed Baker said; “We have been called out to deal with driftwood in the sea but this is the most unusual case for a long time.

“It’s not known whether it came from the English of French side of the Channel.”

The large American-style freezer was deemed a hazard and the Severn class RNLI vessel launched at 6.50pm .

But the lifeboat, under the command of second coxswain Jon Miell . failed to find the object after nearly four hours of searching.

It returned to its station at Crosswall Quay, Union Street at 10.30pm.

Mr Baker said: “The freezer must have filled up with water and sunk when we were looking for it.

“It was seen as a hazardous obstruction for navigation and shipping on the Channel.

"It would have been very dangerous if a vessel ran over it in the dark. It could even damage a large ferry if it hit the propeller.”

Dover RNLI urges people never to dump objects into the sea.

It stresses that the Strait of Dover is the busiest shipping lane in the world with more than 500 ships a day using it.”