THE sister of a man who was lost in a tragedy 26 years ago has marked the anniversary with a special donation.

On June 12, 1995, the Lyme Regis lifeboat crew were informed that a powerboat with three men on board was overdue from a fishing trip.

On board were Chard men Andrew Sparks, 29, and brothers Tom and Leslie Davies, aged 36 and 33 respectively.

The search for the trio involved five lifeboats, two RAF Nimrod aircraft, two coastguard helicopters and two Royal Navy helicopters.

The Lyme Regis RNLI volunteers were at sea for more than 16 hours, the longest ever call out for the crew. It also involved six crew changes, and 400 litres of fuel.

Sadly, despite the search, the men were not found.

The bodies of Mr Sparks and Tom Davies were found in the following months. The body of Leslie Davies was never found.

Twenty six years on, Andrew Sparks' sister, Sarah Haskins donated two pairs of powerful binoculars to the Lyme Regis RNLI crew in her bother's memory.

She was able to raise £850 among family and friends to buy the binoculars and visited the lifeboat station on Sunday to hand them over.

Sarah said: “As a family we always support the RNLI, and this donation is also to mark the diamond anniversary of my parents Val and Bill Sparks.”

Lifeboat operations manager Nick Marks said:”We are very grateful for this gift. They will be a vital aid to us, providing close up views in all directions from the lifeboat station balcony.”