Fishing crew rescued in treacherous conditions off Peterhead

Rescuers braved treacherous conditions to save the crew of a fishing boat "dangerously close" to hitting rocks off the north-east of Scotland.

The vessel was being towed by another fishing boat into Peterhead harbour but the tow broke several times in the stormy weather.

The alarm was raised at 16:30 on Friday and Peterhead RNLI lifeboat was on the scene in minutes.

Coxswain Patrick Davidson said they narrowly avoided a tragedy.

"If we had arrived seconds later the boat would have hit the rocks and it would have been a different outcome," he said.

"As soon as I saw how close she was to the rocks I immediately requested the helicopter - due to the perilous situation I realised we only had one attempt to get this right.

"The crew and the skipper of the boat could not thank the lifeboat enough and said they'd be forever grateful which makes all the effort worthwhile."

The RNLI said the boat was close to crashing into rocks at Peterhead south breakwater and the lifeboat crew faced "extremely challenging conditions" due to an easterly gale and a significant swell.

However, the rescuers established a tow at first attempt and brought the crew to safety, saving the five lives on board.

It was Mr Davidson's first shout as coxswain.

He said his volunteer crew put in a "tremendous effort" and showed great seamanship in "really difficult conditions".

"There have been weather and flood warnings in place across Aberdeenshire today - the conditions were very dangerous but everyone worked together to ensure the safest outcome," he said.

Lifeboat operations manager Jurgen Wahle described the rescue as a "phenomenal performance" of the lifeboat team.

"This was a critical incident and the effort from everyone on shore and at sea has resulted in five lives being saved. It is a tremendous outcome, and I'd like to commend the bravery displayed by the crew," he added.