Three kayakers had to be rescued by St Agnes RNLI Lifeboat on Wednesday after capsizing andfinding themselves stranded and unable to paddle back to shore.

The volunteer crew of Dan Stirling, Paul Fisher and Dominic May responded to reports that three kayakers were in trouble at Gull Rock in Portreath and launched at 7.48pm.

Sea conditions were flat but there was a strong south easterly wind.

Once they reached the scene they found the first of the casualties, who had capsized and was stranded on Flat Rocks to the west of Gull Rock. The crew transferred the casualty safely to the lifeboat and he directed them to where he thought his two companions were.

The two other casualties had made their way to a patch of shore which was only accessible by sea so the crew of Blue Peter IV quickly made their way towards them. By this point, the volunteer crew were losing visibility as it was getting dark.

Helmsman Dan Stirling said: "We reached the two other casualties who explained that they couldn’t get back to Portreath beach as the wind and tide was too strong for them to paddle against.

"We assessed the casualties at the scene, they were suffering from the cold but no further medical assistance was required."

 The crew returned all three casualties to the beach at Portreath where the local Coastguard unit were waiting for them. They then returned to sea to collect the three discarded kayaks and returned these to the owners.

St Agnes RNLI are currently fundraising to raise £20,000 towards the cost of a new D class lifeboat for the station. The current D class, the Blue Peter IV, is approaching the end of her operational life so a new lifeboat is needed to replace her. The new lifeboat is due to arrive on station in autumn 2015.