A fishing crew were left red-faced after broadcasting an erotic film over the airwaves by accident.

The hapless crew of the Oceania accidentally knocked the handset of their emergency radio, jamming it on transmit, while watching Crash on a portable TV set nearby.

The gaff meant that other fishing crews and coastguards scannning the radio channel for distress signals were left listening to the steamy sound track to David Cronenberg's controversial film, where the cast become aroused by car crashes.

Humber Coastguard picked up the signal last Thursday night and were left frantically trying to alert the vessel, based in Blyth, Northumberland.

They even contacted Channel 4 to broadcast an emergency message to tell the crew to stop watching it, but a lifeboat from Berwick managed to reach the Oceania just before.

Humber Coastguard said it was lucky the incident happened during a quiet period and at night.

A spokesman also said it was fortunate that sea conditions were relatively calm.

He said: "This should serve as a warning to others to be careful with their emergency radio switches."

"This sort of incident happens more often in summer with the pleasure crafts out, it's very rare for commercial vessels to do this."

"We found out that the signal was blocked at just before 11:30 on Thursday night and it wasn't resolved until 1:14am."

"The radio they use is only a one-way system so it is hard to alert the crew because you cannot speak to them whilst they are transmitting a signal."

The skipper of the Oceania, George Mair, said he had apologised for the error.

He said he had inadvertently jammed a clock radio into the switch that opened the emergency radio channel.

He said although the film was on in the background, he was busy working on the boat at the time.

The controversial film Crash, starring Holly Hunter and James Spader, tells the story of people who gain sexual gratification from car crashes.