Two people rescued from burning yacht

Smoke was pictured coming from the yacht off the County Down coast

Two people have escaped injury after their yacht caught fire close to the entrance of Strangford Lough.

The coastguard received a call at about 17:30 BST on Saturday from the crew of 35ft yacht to say their engine had over-heated and appeared to be smoking heavily.

Coastguard team leader Jude McNeice said: "We launched the Portaferry RNLI inshore lifeboat, but unfortunately when the lifeboat got along side the fire had already taken hold so the crew had to be evacuated to shore by the lifeboat."

"The crew were assessed by the Portaferry Coastguard rescue team and fortunately they hadn't any injuries and had suffered no ill-effects."

'They've lost their yacht'

Ms McNeice said the owners of the yacht were "not happy at all" about what had happened.

"Unfortunately it looks like they've lost their yacht.

"They were experienced owners and took the right course of action.

"They had fire extinguishers on board but unfortunately the fire appears to have taken hold very quickly, so they did the right thing in calling us and asking for assistance."

She also praised the lifeboat crew for their swift action.

"It was difficult to leave the yacht but it was the right decision for the safety of the crew onboard," she added.