A couple who got stranded in a dinghy in mud on the River Medway in Gillingham had to be winched to safety by a helicopter.

The pair, a man and a woman, got stuck at about 8.40pm last night close to Owen’s Way between The Strand and Riverside Country Park.

The Medway Coastguard rescue team and Coastguard rescue helicopter 104 which flew in from Lee on Solent, were tasked to rescue the pair after they got stuck 400m off land.

The helicopter winched the couple off the dinghy and took them to shore where coastguard team had set up a landing site. The pair didn’t require hospital treatment.