SIX people were helped in a busy end to July for Poole lifeboat crews, including one man who was found face down and unconscious in the water.

Crews from RNLI Poole Lifeboat Station were requested to launch first at 6.30pm on Friday, July 29, by the UK Coastguard to a report of a broken-down sports-fisher drifting towards the groynes.

The vessel, with one person on-board, had broken down earlier in the day and the male occupant was trying to arrange a tow back when his anchor dragged and the vessel began to drift.

The lifeboat volunteers were soon on scene and found the boat very close to the surf line on the beach. One ensuring the man was okay, the crew attached a towline and brought him safely back to Poole Quay Boat Haven.

At 6.40pm on Saturday, July 30, crews were requested to launch to assist a 22ft yacht with a family of four on-board. The vessel had gone aground west of Green Island and the lifeboat crew were tasked to conduct a welfare check.

Once they arrived on scene and checked everyone was safe, crews set the yachts anchor. Towing it off wasn’t an option as it was firmly stuck aground and the crew didn’t want to damage the vessel. It was subsequently agreed that two people would be transferred off the boat and two people would remain on-board to wait for the tide to come back and re-float their yacht – with the Coastguard monitoring them.

The lifeboat took two people back safely ashore to Poole Yacht club and then returned to station.

This was the 80th call out for the station this year.

For the third and final time during the weekend the pagers rang out on Sunday, July 31, at 7.45pm to a report of a person in the water, unconscious at the steps by the Customs House Café along Poole Quay.

The lifeboat swiftly launched and arrived on scene at the steps, however there was nothing untoward. Crews then checked another set of steps along the quayside and found that a person had indeed fallen down the steps and had been face down in the water, near to Da Vinci’s.

On arrival the RNLI team found that an ambulance was on scene and paramedics had pulled the casualty out the water and he was safe in their care.

Volunteer helm Alex Evans said: “The tides are unpredictable and constantly changing, we don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, but we ask people to consider their own safety and that of others and respect the water.”