The lifeboat was launched to assist a 19-foot motor-cruiser which was drifting near Kingsferry Bridge in the Swale after its engine failed .

A passer-by on shore alerted by the waving and calling of the two occupants of the craft called the coastguard.

Whitstable Lifeboat arrived at the scene to find the vessel aground on the north bank of the Swale with its bow on the shore but it’s stern still in the water and lying at a sharp angle.

The lifeboat crew managed to refloat the craft and towed it into deeper water before taking it back to a mooring.

The two occupants one from Sittingbourne and one from Iwade were then landed ashore and the lifeboat returned to station.