A lifeboat volunteer had an unusual family meeting at sea after being called out to rescue his father.

George Hodge, 25, had just finished a night shift when he was paged at 6am on Saturday to help Anstruther Lifeboat reach a broken down boat off the Fife coast.

When the 25-year-old reached the boat with his three-man crew he realised it was his father Brian, 50, who had forced him out of bed.

The volunteer crew boarded the boat and towed it back to shore without incident.

Mr Hodge senior said: “I thought my son will not be happy, he’s just in at 3am after a night shift. At least it gave him something to do.”

A spokesman for Anstruther Lifeboat said: “As much as George and his fellow crew members enjoyed helping Brian safely back to Anstruther, the serious nature of what the RNLI do cannot be forgotten.

“If you are in difficulty, please contact the Coastguard, just like Brian did and request assistance from the assets we have available.

“Unlike Brian, you will not lose family bragging rights and have additional chores as payback for our help.”