COASTGUARD were called to the aid of two boats which came into difficulties off the coast of Suffolk and Essex in the early hours of this morning.

The first happened on the Harwich coast just before 1.45am when Walton Coastguard received a call from sailing barge, Spider T, which was returning from the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebratory event.

The crew reported problems with broken equipment and were unable to drop the vessel’s main sail making manoeuvring difficult and dangerous.

Thames Coastguard and Walton RNLI were sent to the boat’s aid to help pull the sail back down and enable the boat to sail safely back to Harwich.

The second incident happened just before 5am in Southwold harbour when John Williams barge, which had two people and a dog on board, ran aground.

The boat was turning into the harbour when it ran aground and Thames Coastguard rescue teams from Southwold and Lowestoft were forced to pull the boat back into deeper water.