TWO people on board a 37-foot motor cruiser required the assistance of both the Whitstable and Margate lifeboats after reporting a fire in the engine compartment.

The Whitstable Lifeboat crew launched just after 7.30am on Thursday and located the motor cruiser Jaramundo about a mile east of the Margate Hook Spit Buoy and about two miles north east of Reculver.

A yacht was also standing by the casualty vessel, and the Margate all-weather lifeboat was also headed for the scene.

Whitstable Lifeboat’s helmsman John Croft said: "There had been a burst pipe in the engine compartment that had sprayed oil over the starboard engine.

The two people onboard had noticed a loss of power and had smelt burning and went to investigate. At that point the vessels fire detection system activated and covered the engine compartment in CO2.

They radioed for help as they were unwilling to attempt to restart the engine."

The Whitstable Lifeboat stayed with the Jaramundo until the arrival of the Margate Lifeboat, which then took the eight-ton craft undertow for Ramsgate.

The two people on board, who came from Chatham, escaped injury. The vessel had been on passage from the Medway to Ramsgate when the incident happened.