FIVE teenagers were rescued when a yacht ran aground.

Lyme Regis lifeboat launched when the 35-foot yacht broke free from its mooring in Lyme Harbour in the early hours of the morning.

The sailing boat had drifted towards the shore and ran aground on the beach near Lucy's Ledge in Lyme Regis. There were seven people on board including five teenagers. 

The lifeboat launched and was alongside the casualty vessel 15 minutes after the Coastguard requested the launch. The five teenagers were rescued off the casualty boat and taken to the lifeboat station, all were safe and well with no injuries.

The volunteer crew of the lifeboat then returned to the casualty vessel and managed to tow the boat away from the beach back to a mooring.

The boat was a Tradewind 35 sailing yacht called TS Vigilant, part of the Sea Cadets fleet. The boat and crew were on route from Plymouth to Poole, stopping at Lyme Regis for the night. The five Sea Cadets were from the London and Birmingham areas.

Helm Tim Edwards said "I was pleased we were able to get the teenagers to safety of the lifeboat station and then recover the casualty vessel from trouble. The lifeboat crew performed really well and the all the training we do was put to good use!"

The incident happened at 2.45am on Wednesday morning.