A 50-year-old man had to be airlifted to hospital on Friday morning after being taken from a 27ft cruiser stuck in the reeds at Harty, Sheppey. The man, who has a heart condition and is diabetic had been without medication since he and two friends had set out many hours earlier Southend on Thursday afternoon.

They were aboard the Christina which had a broken radio and was not carrying distress flares. When, after several hours, they realised they were lost, one man was able to contact the coastguard from his mobile phone.

"But they were unable to give a location," said lifeboat coxswain Robin Castle. "We got the call at 1.15am and spent the next three hours searching. Eventually we located them in the reeds and mud at Harty.

"The crew had to wade through mud to rescue them. The condition of one man gave rise for concern and we alerted the RAF rescue helicopter at Wattersham, Suffolk. "The sick man was put on board and taken to Southend hospital. The other two remained with the Christina until the tide lifted them off and they returned to Leigh-on-Sea."