A NORTH-EAST navy man has told how he helped rescue six sailors from a sinking motor vessel in the eastern Caribbean.

Ash Hinds, 22, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, winched the stricken crew members, all of Guyanan origin, to safety after receiving a Mayday call from the vessel.

He was part of the crew of the HMS Southampton, a Type 42 destroyer which was conducting a drugs patrol off Dominica when it was alerted to the stricken boat.

It travelled at full speed for 40 miles to reach the scene, and inside an hour the crew were able to prepare their Lynx helicopter for the rescue operation.

Mr Hinds was winched down to help the crew as the Guyanans' boat began to break up due to the heavy seas. One by one, he managed to winch five of them to safety, while the other sailor was rescued by the ship's boat.

"They were really scared," said Mr Hinds, who only returned to England last week following the rescue, which happened in January.

"I said, 'don't worry, I'm going to get you all out. You're safe now'. I was trying to calm them down."

As the boat rocked on the waves as it began to break, Mr Hinds was injured as he took the crew to safety but continued to winch them up.

Mr Hinds and the crew required hospital treatment after the ordeal, but nobody was badly hurt.

The winchman said: "They were so grateful for what happened. They wouldn't stop shaking our hands."

But the modest navy man, who joined up four years ago, said that he was simply doing his duty. "I practise three or four times a month. When you practise it, it becomes second nature," he said.

"All my colleagues were saying 'you've saved their lives'. It didn't click until afterwards - the adrenaline was rushing. I did my job, but if it wasn't for the rest of the crew it would have been different."

The skipper of the boat, which sank within ten minutes of HMS Southampton's arrival, told Mr Hines and his colleagues: "I don't know what I can say, I owe you guys my life."