Fears for the safety of a yacht as it came close to hitting rocks sparked the second call out in quick succession for a lifeboat crew.

The voluntary crew of the Lowestoft RNLI lifeboat responded to another yacht in difficulties - just 19 hours after it had assisted an 11-metre Belgian yacht - which had two people on board - after it got into difficulties off the Suffolk coast on Tuesday afternoon.

The Lowestoft RNLI lifeboat Patsy Knight and the town's coastguard rescue team raced to the aid of a small yacht that was feared to be in danger of hitting rocks on Wednesday morning.

Volunteers from the Lowestoft lifeboat crew were called at 8.27am on July 20 after a yacht had been seen by onlookers to be close to the rocky breakwater at Children’s Corner, South Pier on Lowestoft.

Lowestoft lifeboat coxswain John Fox said: "A member of the public alerted the UK Coastguard to the vessel in danger and the town’s coastguard rescue team and our lifeboat were called to help.

"We reached the nine-metre yacht very quickly and found that the solo sailor on board was struggling to make headway against the tide.

"He said that he had recently bought the yacht and had sailed from Ipswich the previous day keeping close to the coast as he headed north.

"As the yacht was getting near to the rocks we decided it would be safest to tow the vessel into Lowestoft yacht basin where he moored just after 9am."