A 40-year-old man was rescued after a night lost at sea in a four-foot inflatable dinghy after his cries for help were heard from the beach.

Poole RNLI were called out at 3.30am on Saturday after several people reported hearing shouts of ‘help’ while on the beach.

They found the man just as the sun was rising, floating in the child’s toy one mile west of Bournemouth Pier. He had been on the water since 10pm.

The hapless individual was checked over and found to be unharmed. He was taken to the beach at Alum Chine where coastguards, police and paramedics were waiting.

Volunteer coxswain Jonathan Clark said he had had a lucky escape.

“Any inflatable dinghies and lilos are so dangerous,” he added. “You cannot steer them, they’re full of air and very light. If there’s a sudden gust of wind they can easily be swept away or you could be caught unawares by a wave, “Even when the sea is calm, there can be a strong under- current and you could find yourself being swept out to sea in seconds.

“One minute you can be in a few feet of water, and then, with an offshore wind and turning tide, you could find yourself a long way out, especially in the dead of night when there’s nobody out there to help or see you. This man was extremely lucky.”

Onlookers said the sea had been like a “mill pond” that night – and there was a full moon.