Two men and a woman who bought a toy dinghy for £25 and went out on the River Medway in it had to be rescued by the coastguard after the began to drift away from shore.

The Medway Coastguard team were called out to the river at Gillingham at about 2.15pm on Sunday , after someone dialed 999 for help as the inflatable toy boat was being blown dangerously across the river toward Hoo.

Sheerness Inshore lifeboat was also sent to the scene as were the Sheppey Coastguard team who were already in the area after completing another job.

The trio and their rubber dinghy was found quickly and bought back to shore where they were spoken to and given safety advice.

The men in the boat were said to be aged between 30 and 40 years and the woman was between 20 and 30.

A spokesman for the coastguard team said: “They had purchased the toy inflatable for £25 and only had one oar between them, and were not wearing lifejackets or had a telephone or radio on them.

“Our advice is inflatable dinghies are not to be used on either the River Medway or Thames as both have powerful currents and with breezy conditions can take you away from the shoreline very quickly.

If you are using one, you should have a rope tethering it to the shore so you can always pull yourself back to safety.

“And most importantly, wear a lifejacket at all times.”