TWO fishermen whose boat sank off the Northumberland coast on Wednesday morning have been rescued following a search operation involving four RNLI lifeboats.

The alarm was raised by the crew of another fishing boat who spotted a man clinging to a lobster pot marker just before 9am today. They radioed for help after pulling him on board their vessel, the Boy Liam.

Amble RNLI all-weather and inshore lifeboats were launched to search for the second fisherman, and Newbiggin and Seahouses RNLI lifeboats were later requested to join the search.

After about an hour, the Amble RNLI inshore lifeboat crew spotted the man on the beach at Coquet Island, which is around a mile off the Northumberland coast. They recovered him onto the lifeboat and he was airlifted to hospital by a Coastguard helicopter.

Amble RNLI Coxswain John Connell said it is thought the man managed to swim the short distance to the island after his boat overturned and sank.

He added: "These are two extremely lucky fishermen. The water is very cold and they were in the water some time, but they did what they could to look after themselves until help arrived.

"We always hope for a positive outcome but we are all very, very relieved that the two fishermen have been found and we wish them well for a speedy recovery following their ordeal.’