A GRANDFATHER and his grandson were taken to hospital after being rescued from the water in Poole on Monday afternoon.

Poole lifeboat volunteers were called to Baiter at 4.15pm after a person onshore raised the alarm.

On the scene, they found two small dinghies capsized with a man in the water and young man sat on one of the upturned dinghies.

The dinghy with the youngster onboard had capsized and his granddad had taken his dinghy back ashore.

He then relaunched to assist the youngster but in turn got into difficulty himself and was in the water holding onto the dinghies.

The man was described as “extremely cold” and had an injury to his eye, while the youngster was showing signs of hypothermia.

Volunteers recovered the pair and kept them warm with blankets as they were taken back to the lifeboat station.

They were then transferred to the ambulance service before being taken to Poole Hospital before the lifeboat returned to Baiter to recover the dinghies which were then passed onto Poole Coastguard.

Dave Riley, volunteer helm, said: ‘Thankfully the person on the shore made that 999 call as even though it’s sunny and fine, it’s a different story when you have been in the water for some time. “

The lifeboat returned back to station and after refuelling was ready for service by 5.15pm.