A man is in hospital after suffering a head injury while on board a yacht off the Essex coast.

Coastguards received reports of a man being hit by a boom on a vessel near Mersea Island at around 4.55pm today.

Rescue workers from Clacton RNLI found two men on board the sailing yacht. One had suffered a cut to the head in the incident was taken to Brightlingsea Harbour where East of England Ambulance Service paramedics took him to Colchester General Hospital to be checked over.

“He did not lose consciousness at any time,” a Walton Coastguard spokesman said.

“He was taken to hospital with a cut to the head not thought to be life threatening.”