A FISHING boat had to be towed to shore after a mechanical failure left it stranded in the sea off the North-East coast last night.

The alarm was raised shortly after 8pm when the 19.5m fishing boat suffered mechanical failure off the Hartlepool piers.

Volunteer crew members from Hartlepool RNLI were paged at 8.23pm and they launched the lifeboat Betty Huntbatch at 8.39pm.

The all-weather lifeboat was alongside the vessel at 8.45pm and was able to tow the fishing boat the short distance to the nearby fish quay, where it was met by a local Coastguard team at 9.05pm to assist with mooring the vessel.

The RNLI all-weather boat returned to Ferry Road lifeboat station at 9.30pm, where it was made ready for its next service by the crew.

Hartlepool RNLI lifeboat operations manager Chris Hornsey said: "This was a typical job the volunteer crew train for on a regular basis.

"Having towed the vessel for less than a mile it was good to see the fishing boat with its five crew moored safely at the Fish Quay."