A lone fisherman was left clinging to his capsized boat for almost an hour before his distress flares were spotted and a rescue could be launched.

He was three miles out to sea when he got into difficulty, south of Lizard Point, on Friday morning.

However it was not until 9.16am that the crew of the Lizard Lifeboat were alerted to his danger, following multiple reports to Falmouth Coastguard of flares seen in the area.

Lifeboat Rose was launched within nine minutes of the initial page coming in, with the crew heading to the last known flare sighting off The Lizard in Cornwall. 

A spokesperson said: “The casualty was quickly located clinging to the bow section of his upturned fishing boat, which had capsized nearly an hour previously.

“The lone fisherman was wearing a life jacket and a personal locator beacon.”

The lifeboat crew immediately took the man onboard the lifeboat and gave him casualty care, before taking him back to the lifeboat station to wait for the arrival of paramedics.

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Coastguards from Mullion and Porthoustock rescue teams were also called in to provide support when the flares were first spotted.

The coastguard teams them went to the lifeboat station to offer further support and help with handover of the casualty to the ambulance.

Lifeboat Rose then relaunched and returned to the same position to find and recover the open deck boat the fisherman had been on, in order for it not to cause a hazard to other marine traffic in the area.

The boat was safely taken in to Cadgwith Cove, arriving there at 11.45am.

A spokesperson for the Lizard RNLI said: “All at the station send our very best wishes to the casualty and are very relieved for his safe return home.

“Grateful thanks for all who attended this service today, including coastguard teams from Mullion and Porthoustock.”