Boaters had to be rescued when engine failed

TWO boaters had to be rescued from the Thames after their boat's engine broke down and they drifted into trees.

The boat, completely without power, was then at the mercy of the river, and with a fairly strong current smashed into trees on the bank, but as still some way from land had to be rescued by the emergency services.

Fire crews from Reading attended, but it needed a boat and a crew to tow them out of the trees and then to a clear bank.

A spokesman told that they were lucky they drifted into the trees, otherwise they could have finished up on or over a weir, with drastic consequences, adding:

"We had an ambulance on hand because the woman was heavily pregnant and we were told the man had a bad leg and was walking on crutches."

This occurred near the Tesco moorings in Reading, with the boat being towed to the moorings and tied up.