FOUR people were rescued from their stricken Boston Whaler boat after it ran aground in Poole's Holes Bay at the weekend.

The RNLI D Class lifeboat was launched just before 6pm on Saturday and found the 17ft vessel stuck in the mud about 30 metres from the channel.

Poole coastguard officers had also been deployed, so the RNLI lifeboat volunteers assisted them with a mud rescue.

The casualties, although suffering from the cold, were not injured.

A RNLI spokesman explained: "Once on scene coastguards and two lifeboat crew walked to the vessel and distributed blankets to the casualties, as the temperature was dropping in the night air.

"Working together one casualty was stretched back to the inshore lifeboat, and as the tide was starting to shift a decision was made to attach a long line to the vessel aground and wait for the tide to come back so that the lifeboat could pull it off.

"This it did and the lifeboat successfully re-floated the vessel and it came alongside."

By this point the Dorset Police RIB had also been deployed with a couple of lifeboat crew on-board to assist it. Some of the casualties were transferred on-board the police vessel.

The RNLI spokesman said: "The lifeboat took the stricken vessel back to Cobbs Quay and the lifeboat crew, with the coastguards onboard, returned back to station for a thorough wash down of the kit .

"The police RIB had brought the other casualties safely ashore, they were cold but none the worse for the adventure."

While this rescue was unfolding, Poole's Atlantic lifeboat was called out to assist a 40ft yacht that had suffered a mechanical failure.

This vessel, with four people on board, had managed to sail up to the entrance of Poole Harbour, where they were forced to drop anchor due to the extremely strong tide.

The lifeboat brought the yacht into the safety of the harbour, putting them on a mooring at Brownsea Island to enable repairs to their vessel.