Six people and a dog were rescued by a lifeboat after being left stranded on marshland when their boat ran out of fuel.

Six people and a dog were rescued by a lifeboat today after being left stranded on marshland when their boat ran out of fuel.

The two men and four women, who were visiting the area from London and Norwich, were left stranded when their boat drifted onto saltings in the backwaters near Walton-on-the-Naze.

They had borrowed the boat, possibly for a sight-seeing trip, but ran into difficulties around lunchtime today.

They were spotted by a local wildlife spotting vessel, the Karina, who alerted the coastguard at 2.10pm.

Harwich inshore lifeboat was dispatched and rescued the stranded holiday-makers, bringing them back to the marina at around 3.20pm.

The boat was left in situ but is expected to be recovered tomorrow.