Two British tourists spend four days lost at sea before life-saving rescuers find broken boat

Spanish coastguards scrambled to help the stricken tourists, who got into difficulty at high sea around 60 miles north of Tenerife in a vessel called Green Power, which has a Panama flag

Two Brits are among four people reportedly rescued from a stricken boat after getting into difficulty off the coast of Tenerife.

Each of the tourists is severely dehydrated after spending "four days" at high sea in a vessel called Green Power, which has a Panama flag. Spanish coastguards rallied to rescue the group, all men, who were winched to safety by helicopter some 60 miles north of Tenerife.

They made a Mayday call after seeing they were starting to take on water. The Panamanian-flagged vessel named locally as Green Power is said to have responded by heading to the area they were in along with a Civil Guard vessel.

The four occupants of the boat in difficulties, described as a semi-rigid, were choppered to Tenerife South airport and are then thought to have been taken to a nearby hospital so they could be seen by medics.

Police and coastguards are yet to make any official comment. It was not immediately clear this morning what the men, said to include a French national, had been doing at sea and why they initially got into difficulties.

Earlier this month, a tourist got into difficulty off the coast of Exmouth, Devon. Carl Sawyer, 51, was thrown into the water after a piece of equipment broke on his windsurf.

He said his mobile phone, which he had in a waterproof pouch, was his "only lifeline" because he was able to call for help. Dramatic footage recorded and released by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) team at Exmouth shows the gang rush to Carl's rescue.

Carl, an experienced windsurfer, said the consequences would be hugely different had he not had his phone. He added: "I normally windsurf quite far offshore, I’m quite familiar with those waters and you always have to be prepared. I always carry either a phone or a VHF radio."