A MAN who fell from his boat into the water near Lymington was rescued "just in time" when he was spotted by lifeboat crews.

The Lymington RNLI crew were called to reports of a small boat drifting 1.5 miles to the east of Lymington River just after 4.30pm yesterday, Friday.

It had been reported that no one was on board the boat, but as the crew approached the vessel, they spotted someone in the water hanging onto a buoy.

The man, believed to be in his mid-20s, had fallen from his boat and managed to hold on to the buoy for 35 minutes.

Fortunately he was wearing a lifejacket and a kill cord which stopped the boats engine when he fell out.

The volunteer crew lifted the casualty into the lifeboat and took him back to Lymington where he was warmed up and checked over by paramedics.

Nick Hayward, lifeboat operations manager, said: "Having been in the water for that long the young man said to the crew that he was just going to let go as he could not hang on any more.

"Had he done that he would have been swept out through the Hurst Narrows and this would have been a different story. We’re really glad we were able to reach him in time."