LIFEBOAT crews from Poole faced a busy evening on Thursday as an "armada" of boats took to Poole Bay to watch Bournemouth Council's "Roar on the Shore" firework display.

Crew on the station's all weather boat, the City of Sheffield, were called to rescue a 25-foot motorboat drifting towards dangerous rocks known as the Trading Bank, at the entrance to Poole Harbour.

The stricken vessel had fouled its propeller on a lobster pot, and was towed back to Poole Quay by the City of Sheffield.

Both of the quayside station's lifeboats had been called earlier in the evening to rescue a powerboat with a hole in its hull, west of Bournemouth.

Volunteers from the station's inshore lifeboat, The Sgt Bob Martin, boarded the powerboat with pumps, bailing out the vessel before owing it back to the Dorset Lake boat yard.

Earlier that day, the all weather boat had been called out by Portland Coastguard to a report of cabin cruiser taking on water through a broken window at Alum Chine.

Lifeboat volunteers found the crew bailing out their damaged cruiser near the entrance to Poole Harbour, and escorted them back to Hamworthy.

Exhausted crews returned to their station at about midnight.