Empty boat sparks fears for fisherman

A fisherman from London is missing after his empty grey inflatable boat was recovered by rescue teams in the early hours of today.

The inexperienced sailor was last heard from at 2pm yesterday and has not been seen since.

The man, in his thirties, is believed to have gone on a fishing trip alone from Christchurch harbour off the Dorset coast.

The alarm was raised by a relative at 10pm last night when he did not return to shore.

A huge rescue operation, involving a helicopter, was launched immediately.

The boat was discovered just before 1am and searches continued until 3am.

Rescue teams from Lymington, Southampton, Southbourne and Poole have joined Portland Coastguard in the search, which resumed this morning.

The Coastguard Rescue helicopter from Lee on Solent and RNLI lifeboats are also involved in the search.

The missing man's car was found by a friend at Mudeford Quay. His boat was later recovered at Chewton Bunny.

Alan Norman at Portland Coastguard said: "We searched until 3am and resumed this morning. We have more than 20 people looking for him.

"We hope that he's managed to get ashore or is being kept afloat by his lifejacket but the weather is not in his favour."