TWO fishermen who ran into difficulties off Blue Anchor made it safely into Watchet harbour with minutes to spare thanks to a helping hand from Minehead's lifeboat crew.

The men had set out for a day's fishing from Watchet on Monday morning but encountered problems early in the afternoon when their anchor rope fouled the propeller on their 18ft boat.

Although they managed to cut it free, the engine failed to start, leaving them drifting helplessly down channel.

Minehead's Atlantic 85 lifeboat was on the scene within minutes of their emergency call but then faced a race against time and tide to tow the vessel back to safety.

With the tide falling the lifeboat crew just had time to push the men's boat into the mouth of the harbour at Watchet before it became inaccessible.

Another minute's delay and the pair would have faced an uncomfortable wait for another four hours before being able to make it ashore.

Crew member Phil Horne said: "By the time we got to Watchet it was touch and go.

"We checked they had paddles then warned them we were going to have to leave them in the harbour or we would run aground ourselves.

"In the end we just gave them a shove and they made the last few yards under their own steam.

"By the time we went astern we didn't have much more than two feet of water under the boat."