A lifeboat was scrambled to help an angling boat after it ran into a rock in the middle of the Dart in the dark and was left without steering.

The rescue mission was one of three call outs for the Dart inshore lifeboat in two days over the weekend.

Minutes after the first rescue the lifeboat was tasked to find a mystery object drifting in the river.

And the next day the lifeboat was launched after a party of walkers ended up stranded on a beach near Stoke Gabriel.

The first call out came at 1.12am on Saturday after the angling boat Bo Bo near Dittisham had called for help.

A lifeboat spokesman said: 'The open fishing boat, with two men onboard, had been travelling back to Totnes from fishing around the Skerries when the boat hit the Anchorstone.

'No one was hurt in the collision, but the boat was damaged and left without steering. Helm Kevin Murphy decided to closely escort the boat back to Dartmouth for recovery.'

As the recovery was under way, the lifeboat was alerted by the Coastguard after an angler had reported a large object – possibly an upturned boat – by the Western Blackstone near the entrance to the Dart, drifting against the current.

The spokesman said: 'The lifeboat ensured that the fishing boat was safe before heading to the Western Blackstone to search for the object at 2.40am. After searching for more than two hours, the lifeboat did not find the object and was recovered at 4.50am.

'On the Sunday evening the lifeboat was called at 8.56pm to assist four people stranded on a beach at Mill Point, Stoke Gabriel. The crew attended the scene and led the walkers to safety using torches.'

The crew on the Saturday launch were helm Kevin Murphy and crew Tony Rendle and Mark Conroy. On he second 'shout' they were helm Kevin Murphy and crew Lee Darch and Richard Eggleton.