Two bedraggled sailors were rescued from a dinghy after setting off four emergency distress flares.

The men aged 35 and 45 were found by the crew of the Sheerness RNLI inshore lifeboat near Medway Yacht Club at Upnor last night.

RNLI spokesman Vic Booth said: “In a bizarre set of circumstances it appears the men had fallen into the water while trying to row their tiny rubber dinghy back to the shore.

“They managed to grab hold of a life-raft from a Royal Engineers’ inflatable boat moored nearby. Once in the water, the life-raft inflated and the two men clambered aboard, taking their own dinghy with them.

“They then let off two red emergency parachute flares and two orange smoke flares they found on board.”

The alarm was raised just before 9pm.

The men, reported as being “very cold” after their ordeal in the water, were taken ashore and met by Medway Coastguard.

The RNLI crew retrieved the life-raft and returned to Sheerness at 10.25pm.