Two sailors have been rescued after the engine of their yacht failed.

A spokesman for the RNLI said a crew launched the inshore lifeboat after being alerted to a 31 foot yacht in difficulty just outside Weymouth Harbour.

The yacht's two person crew had planned to sail from Weymouth to Brixham in Devon.

"Things went wrong and they decided to return back to Weymouth - but just 500m from the harbour entrance they went to start the engine and found it wasn't working", the spokesman added.

A call to the coastguard was made and the lifeboat was launched at around 9.35am yesterday.

Crews arrived on the scene some seven minutes later and were able to tow the yacht to a waiting pontoon in Weymouth harbour.

The lifeboat returned to its berth around 10.08am where crews prepared for the next call out.