A CONCERNED member of the public contacted Portland Coastguard to report a 25-foot yacht adrift in Portland Harbour yesterday.

The Portland Harbour Authority was contacted and established the location of the vessel before directing a rib from the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy to return the vessel to its mooring.

Later in the afternoon the Coastguard also received reports of a kite surfer who was struggling in strong wind off Ferrybridge in Portland Harbour.

Coastguard Rescue Officers from Portland Bill headed to the scene but while they were on route the surfer was assisted to shore by another sailor.

On a busy day for the Coastguard, the rescue helicopter was also scrambled following reports of two wind surfers in difficulty on the south side of Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour.

A passing passenger ferry was waved down by one of the two males, who were stuck on a sandbar.

One of the men had suffered a dislocated knee and the Poole RNLI Inshore Lifeboat was launched to assist the helicopter crew with the casualty before he was airlifted to the Poole landing site, where he was met by an ambulance crew and Coastguard Rescue Officers.

The second wind surfer was able to proceed unaided.

A number of 999 calls were later received reporting a 20-foot yacht having broken free from its moorings near Lake Pier in Poole Harbour.

Portland Coastguard communicated with Poole Harbour Control, which confirmed the yacht was being towed back into the marina.

Poole Harbour Control went on to report that the ferry Norman Asturias had suffered a vehicle fire on the car deck as it began a scheduled passage to Santander in Spain.

The vessel returned to its berth while Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, as well as police and the ambulance service, attended.

It was soon established that the damage was confined to the battery of one vehicle and after it had been disembarked, the vessel resumed her passage.