Four crew were airlifted from a floundering training boat after being struck with sea sickness in storm force 11 conditions. A distress signal was launched when the sail training vessel got into trouble at the height of the storms on Wednesday morning.

The steering broke on Liquid Vortex and she got into trouble three miles off Dungeness point, where all but one of the crew were suffering with debilitating sea sickness.

The conditions were so dangerous that RNLI coxswain Mark Richardson couldn't transfer a lifeboat crew member onto the training vessel.

Dover RNLI came to help the Dungeness crew with the rescue because it was too dangerous to tow her alone.

"The volunteer crews of both Dungeness and Dover showed no fear in launching in what were horrendous conditions to assist the crew of this vessel," said Allen Head, Training Divisional Inspector for the RNLI in the East. "Those aboard certainly had a baptism of fire, being out in such weather, but our crews did everything possible to bring them ashore safely."