TWO men were rescued by the Whitstable Lifeboat after their 19-foot motor-cruiser drifted aground near the Kingsferry Bridge after its engine failed in the Swale on Wednesday afternoon.

The lifeboat was launched after a passer-by on shore, alerted by the waving and calling of the two occupants of the craft, called the coastguard.

The crew arrived at the scene to find the vessel on the north side of the Swale with its bow on the shore but its stern still in the water and lying at a sharp angle.

The lifeboat crew managed to refloat the craft and towed it into deeper water before taking it back to a mooring.

The two men, one from Sittingbourne and the other from Iwade, were then landed ashore.

Weather conditions at the time were southwesterly force four winds. This was the third call of the year for the Whitstable Lifeboat.