A MAN who was rescued by a lifeboat returned to thank lifesavers and to present them with a cheque.

Dave Telling was among five people on a dive boat which broke down a mile-and-a-half off Lyme Regis on Bank Holiday Monday, August 29.

The boat was a 7.5m rib containing members of the Poole and Bournemouth dive club who have been visiting West Bay and Lyme Regis on annual trips for nearly 20 years.

Solent Coastguard requested the Lyme Regis Lifeboat to launch at 12.41pm and the stricken dive boat with engine failure was towed to the safety of West Bay Harbour.

Dave, 64, from Bournemouth visited Lyme Regis Lifeboat Station on a training evening to present a cheque of £500 to the lifesaving charity.

He advised that the boat's problems stemmed from a fuel pump issue that has now been resolved.

A spokesman for Lyme Regis RNLI said: "Dave kindly brought along some diving equipment and explained the best practise for dealing with divers should the lifeboat crew have to deal with them in the future. It was a useful and different training session!"