Sailors whose yacht ran into bad weather off the Dorset coast had to be rescued in the middle of the night.

The 'tired and disorientated' pair were towed to safety by a lifeboat after calling for help.

They were on their way from Portsmouth to Salcombe in Devon but had run into "worsening weather conditions" according to coastguards.

Changing course to find a safe haven they became disorientated and very tired as they battled the sea and decided to call for assistance.

Lyme Regis Lifeboat was launched to go and help but it took a while to find them.

An RNLI spokesman said: "The lifeboat was launched on Friday night to a yacht requesting assistance, believed to be five miles south of West Bay harbour. Sea conditions, poor radio signal and the size of the casualty vessel made locating it very difficult. After firing their second red flare we were able to locate them.

"A crew member was put onboard to assess the situation and found two sailors a little tired and disorientated but otherwise well.

"The lifeboat escorted the 24ft yacht to West Bay."

West Bay Coastguard sent a team to the harbour to meet the yacht.

A spokesman for the team said: "Coastguard officers took details and carried out a welfare and safety check. The tired sailors were left to get some food and a good night's sleep.

"The sailors were well equipped with lifejackets, safety equipment and a marine VHF radio which certainly saved the day when they ran into difficulty."