A drifting rigid inflatable boat led to the volunteer crew of the Lizard lifeboat being launched, over fears the boat may have capsized.

A report came in at 3pm last Thursday that the RIB had been seen 11 miles south east of The Lizard by a merchant ship.

After nearly an hour of searching, the RIB was found by the crew of seven, who quickly realised that it was unmanned due to the engine covers being untouched.

It had most likely been attached to a larger vessel before getting washed away.

Second mechanic Johnny Bray said: “We were amazed that we located the craft so quickly.

“The sea conditions were quite choppy with lots of white water and to spot a small craft which was white and grey in colour and upside down was fantastic.”

On arrival back at the Lizard lifeboat station the sea conditions were too rough to get the RIB up into the boathouse, so it was taken to Falmouth and handed over to the town’s coastguard rescue team.

Falmouth Coastguard later confirmed that the boat had been lost in the Solent just over three weeks ago and that the owner would be contacted.

The Lizard lifeboat crew were coxswain Andrew Putt, second mechanic Johnny Bray and crew members Adam Weston, Darren Thirlaway, John Hill, Brett Jose and Kevin Kinvig.