A 32ft steel motor cruiser made a ‘mayday’ distress call after her engine failed whilst rounding the ledge at Beachy Head.

She was being swept westward, with three of the four crew suffering from severe seasickness caused by the choppy sea.

The skipper couldn’t deploy his anchor, so he made the ‘mayday’ call.

The motor cruiser had drifted three miles south of Beachy Head when Eastbourne RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat reached her.

They were towed to Newhaven, the closest safe port, where an ambulance crew was waiting to attend to the three casualties.