Three children were taken to hospital after their dinghies drifted offshore near the coast of Leysdown.

Thames Coastguard had a 999 call reporting two children in dinghies drifting off Sheppey, with a further two children in the water, struggling to swim to shore.

Sheppey Coastguard, the Whitstable RNLI lifeboat and the RAF Sea King helicopter were called in.

The two children swimming made it to shore, while the two drifting in the dinghy were recovered by the lifeboat at just before 6pm yesterday.

Three of the children were taken to hospital after taking in water.

Meanwhile, a man was earlier taken to hospital with seasickness after he was rescued by lifeboat crews during a visit from Prince Charles.

Whitstable RNLI launched while the Prince and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall toured the station while exploring the Oyster Festival.

Two men were aboard the Mandolin yacht when its anchor dragged and the boat began rocking a mile off Whitstable.

The men were brought ashore by lifeboat crews and one was taken to hospital by ambulance crews because of seasickness.

The boat was then towed by Sheerness lifeboat crew members to Queenborough.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall addressed crew members on a visit to the town's Oyster Festival.