A disorientated and exhausted German sailor had to be rescued by the Ramsgate lifeboat after running out of fuel 35 miles off the coast.

The man had been attempting to sail to France but had been battling high winds for several hours in his 70-year-old yacht.

It was a seven-and-a-half hour trip for the lifeboat, but the 52-year-old man has now been towed to safety.