A yachtsman was rescued off the coast of a Cumbrian island after the mooring of his yacht became wrapped around a propeller. 

Barrow RNLI’s volunteer crew launched their inshore lifeboat late on Wednesday afternoon after the yachtsman contacted HM Coastguard at around 5.40pm.

The 26-foot (7.9-metre) yacht, moored on the east side of Piel Island, had a mooring line around its propeller with the one crew member on board unable to clear it.

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A spokesperson for Barrow Lifeboat said: "The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat, Raymond and Dorothy Billingham, was launched at 5.40pm with Jonny Long at the helm along with crew, Paul Wilcock and Michael Armstrong.

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"The lifeboat was alongside the casualty within a few minutes and the crew were able to free the rope from the yacht’s propellor. They then assisted the yachtsman to move his vessel safely to another mooring.

"Wednesday evenings are usually crew training nights and with the lifeboat already afloat, the crew took the opportunity before rehousing the boat to take a low water view of Walney Channel and enhance their local knowledge."

The weather at the time of the incident was bright and clear with good visibility.