A CALL on a mobile phone saved a speedboat owner as his boat started sinking in the choppy waters of the Thames Estuary at the weekend.

Lifeboat crews along the north Kent coast were alerted when he rang the emergency services but a helicopter lifted him to safety. The Whitstable lifeboat joined rescue crews from Herne Bay, Sheerness and Sheppey to support the airlift.

A spokesman for the Thames Estuary coastguard said the boat owner had gone out towards the Red Sands Towers former gun emplacement on Saturday afternoon. Conditions became fairly rough and the boat started taking water.

The man, whose name was not disclosed, was taken to Kent and Canterbury hospital for check-ups.