The volunteers at Burnham-on-Crouch RNLI were busy again this morning when they were called to investigate a sighting of a derelict sailing dinghy.

The HM Coastguard requested assistance from the volunteer helm at 11.48am, which led to the crew launching its Atlantic class lifeboat 'Tony & Robert Britt' to help.

The lifeboat, which is one of the fastest in the RNLI fleet, proceeded to the last known position of the dinghy, which placed it drifting just north of the Sunken Buxey buoy in the River Crouch.

A spokesperson for Burnham-on-Crouch RNLI said: "By the time the crew had arrived on scene, the abandoned dingy had drifted further and was finally located by the lifeboat crew just north of Raysand Buoy."

The volunteers determined that the dinghy was not taking on water and was therefore "a potential navigation risk to other vessels".

This led to the crew's decision to take the dinghy under tow back to Burnham Marina, where it was removed from the water.

Once removed, it was identified as a Bosun sailing dinghy - dating back to around 1960/1965 - which was originally designed for the Royal Navy Sailing Association and also used by sailing schools.