A SEARCH and rescue helicopter crew from Suffolk helped lift people to safety after a yacht ran aground.

A SEARCH and rescue helicopter crew from Suffolk helped lift people to safety after a yacht ran aground.

The helicopter, based at the RAF station in Wattisham, was called by the coastguard to assist the rescue operation in the River Blackwell off Bradwell-on-sea in Essex at about 5.10pm yesterday.

Bradwell Coastguard and Walton Lifeboat were also on hand to help but the three onboard the 25ft yacht, which had run aground on a sandbank, were unsure of their position so the helicopter was called to locate it.

Squadron leader Richard Strookman from the search and rescue crew explained that they used specialist equipment to pinpoint the exact position of the yacht

They then used a radar to get closer and lifted the crew members to safety, before taking them ashore to the coastguard station.

The job was made all the more difficult due to the torrential rain.

He said: β€œIt certainly concentrated the mind. It was a successful operation.”