LIFEBOAT crews 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 Tyne, off the North-East coast, when it narrowly missed several vessels on Saturday afternoon.

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

The boat was traced by Tynemouth lifeboat station's Spirit of Northumberland, but when radio contact was made with the skipper he became abusive.

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 yesterday, 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.