A MAN had to be air-lifted from his yacht after it ran aground in the sea off Sandwich. The eight-metre sloop is thought to have hit a sandbank and started taking on water.

The RAF helicopter took the man, who had dislocated his shoulder blade, to the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital in Margate while his yacht, Water Baby, was towed into Ramsgate with his crewmate still on board.

Ramsgate Lifeboat, Ramsgate Inshore Lifeboat, RAF helicopter and Margate Coastguard were all involved in the rescue.