A TERRIFIED woman was left clinging to the side of the Sandbanks chain ferry after her small boat was trapped.

The 18ft long vessel broke down and faced potentially being sucked underneath the ferry by the strong tide leaving Poole Harbour.

A spokesman for the RNLI said: “She was frozen, too scared to move, on the narrow ledge that runs along the outside of the chain ferry.

“The boat was perilously close to the chain ferry.”

The woman was coaxed to safety by the crew of Poole’s inshore lifeboat during the incident, at around 7pm on Friday.

The boat, a Shetland-style vessel with a small cabin called the Katie Emma, had been launched from a trailer at Baiter Park.

The RNLI said: “It could easily have been sucked under the ferry as the conditions out in the harbour were rough and choppy, with strong gusting easterly winds.”

Volunteer lifeboat helmsman Gavin McGuiness said: “There was nothing they could do.

“The engine broke down and the boat just drifted into the ferry on the water trying to get out of the harbour.

“It had the potential to be a nasty incident.

“They were extremely lucky we just happened to be passing.”

Resident Muriel Powell, 75, said: “I saw somebody come out of the side door on the chain ferry to help on the boat.”

The owner was from the Creekmoor area.

Mr McGuiness said the owner had stopped to let his son and a male friend use the toilets at the Sandbanks end of the ferry but the engine failed.

The woman left clinging to the ferry was the son’s girlfriend, believed to be in her late teens.

The stricken boat was towed to North Haven steps then later to Baiter Park.

In 2001 a four-man yacht drifted into the chain ferry, then capsized and was drawn underneath it by the tide.

A 72-year-old grandmother on board survived unscathed after going right under the ferry.

One Sandbanks resident who saw part of Friday’s drama said: “It’s very hazardous if you go anywhere near the ferry.

“People don’t realise the tide strength.”