PORTLAND Coastguard’s rescue helicopter was called into action yesterday to airlift a male diver who was showing signs of decompression sickness.

The man was airlifted from dive boat Skua at around 9.20am after getting into difficulty near St Albans Head.

Local coastguard officers, a specialist dive doctor and South Western Ambulance staff met the man at the landing site in Poole and he was taken to the nearby hyperbaric decompression chamber.

Earlier Portland Coastguard had received a 999 call from the single occupant of pleasure vessel Inbar, reporting engine failure and grounding in the entrance to Christchurch Harbour.

The Mudeford RNLI Lifrboat located and towed the vessel back into Mudeford Quay.

In the afternoon Portland Coastguard was also alerted after a speedboat with three people on board broke down outside the Exe estuary entrance at Exmouth.

The Exmouth RNLI Inshore Lifeboat was launched and the vessel was located when one of the occupants set off a smoke flare.

Exmouth Coastguards also attended to assist with spotting the craft and the boat was taken back to its mooring.