A dog had to be saved from a river after the boat it was on began filling up with water.

Volunteers from RNLI Sheerness rescued pooch Luna, plus her two owners, on Sunday.

It happened at Stangate Creek on the Medway Estuary near Rochester.

A spokesman for the RNLI team said: “A call came through for the crew to assist a yacht with two people and a dog onboard, reported to be taking on water at the stern.

“Making best speed, the inshore lifeboat arrived on scene and immediately took the two people and the dog off the yacht.

“They were transferred to the all-weather lifeboat.”

The trio were taken back to the boathouse in Sheerness before returning safely home.

The yacht ended up submerged, meaning the owner is making his own arrangements for recovery.

It was one of three incidents the crew dealt with on Sunday.

At 11am, they were alerted by the UK Coastguard to assist a motor cruiser which was suffering from mechanical issues and drifting close to the jetty on the Isle of Grain.

After crew from the inshore lifeboat took the casualty under tow, they continued across the River Medway to Gillingham Reach where the casualty was secured to a buoy.

Meanwhile a third callout was required – also during lunchtime – when a yacht in Stangate Creek found its anchor chain fouled around the craft’s keel.

However, the anchor chain was quickly cleared and the yacht was able to proceed with no further problems.