POOLE Lifeboat crew assisted a broken down yacht this morning after a child needed evacuating due to illness.

The station launched an inshore lifeboat (ILB) at around 6am and located the 21ft yacht at Redhorn Point.

Dave Riley from Poole Lifeboat Station said the crew were called at 5.30am when a four-year-old on a broken down yacht was suffering from sickness and diarrhoea.

An inshore lifeboat was launched at around 6am. It was not thought the boy was seriously ill.

“The yacht had suffered with an electrical failure, unfortunately, and its tender was also punctured, so the people on board couldn’t get ashore," he added.

Following discussions with the yacht’s owner, crew towed the boat and its four occupants back to the marina.