LIFEBOAT crew members have condemned the actions of an apparently intoxicated sailor who nearly sparked a major alert.

The man was crewing a yacht sailing south past the River Tyne, off the North-East coast, when it narrowly missed several vessels on Saturday afternoon.

Humber Coastguard initially thought the boat was crewless with local lifeboat crew at Tynemouth treating the situation as a man overboard exercise.

The boat was eventually traced by Tynemouth lifeboat stations Spirit of Northumberland, but when radio contact was made with the skipper he became abusive to crew members.

Station spokesman Adrian Don said: "When the vessel was found the skipper appeared to have been drinking and was not fully in control of the boat.

"Coastguards radioed the yacht, named Harker, and instructed its skipper to go into Sunderland harbour - but all attempts to get him to go ashore were ignored, leaving coastguards with no alternative but to withdraw."

A second incident, also involving the same vessel, then occurred today, coastguard said.

The yacht was said to have ignored instructions to avoid an exclusion area surrounding a gas pipe in the Tees Bay, and had to be escorted away to ensure its safety.

The incident was one of many dealt by the Tynemouth crew, on what was a busy weekend for them.

The crew were asked to help a fishing boat, Danny Boy, which had broken down one and a half miles North-East of the Tyne piers.

The boat and its three grateful crew members were towed to safety at Royal Quays marina, North Shields