LIFEBOAT crewmen from the North-East have saved four lives - off the coast of Greece.

The five men, and their two friends, were taking part in a yacht race off the island of Levkas when they heard a distress call on channel 16 of their VHF radio.

The instinct of the experienced crew, who were sailing into harbour, was to set off to save the stricken vessel, braving gale force winds and 7ft waves.

They soon spotted their target after a few miles - the yacht Solace - which was sinking with four people on board.

A rescue vessel sent from the Greek marina which had gone to help the Solace, had also broken down, leaving the stricken yacht filling with water.

Using their training, the crew, including Redcar lifeboat men Michael Picknett, Andy Beevis, Barry Knaggs, Mark Reeves and Gordon Young, along with Seahouses lifeboat man Michael Hoyle and Hartlepool fireman Dave Bond, managed to bring their 38ft yacht alongside the sinking Solace.

The Solace's life raft had been inflated inside the sinking vessel to add buoyancy, leaving the four people on board with no means of escape. But the lifeboatmen's skill meant they rescued two women on board the Solace, while the Solace's English skipper and another man helped Mr Hoyls repair a broken sea water pipe on board.

After they had bailed out as much water as possible, the crew towed the yacht back to harbour in very difficult sea conditions, with the sinking yacht's bow under water.

But they arrived safely, proudly flying the lifeboat flag, to a heroes welcome as around 300 people applauded the two vessels' return.

Much to the welcoming party's amazement, the lifeboat men simply enjoyed a few beers to mark a successful mission - 1,309 nautical miles from the Redcar lifeboat station.

Dave Cammish, Redcar Lifeboat launching authority, said: "Had that Greek rescue boat got to the yacht and saved it, the rescue boat team would have handed a massive bill over. But the RNLI never, ever does that."

Recalling the rescue, on September 23, Mr Picknett said: "There's an international duty of anyone at sea to go to the aid of someone else, so even if we weren't lifeboat crew we couldn't have ignored it, but it is what we are trained for.

"It was quite difficult - a 38ft yacht is a bit different to a lifeboat when it comes to using it as a rescue vessel - but we managed."