THREE members of the same family were called from their Father's Day dinner call to help rescue the crew of a stranded fishing boat.

New Brighton lifeboat volunteers Mark McGinn and sons Ben and Tom were paged, along with colleagues, into action on Sunday.

The crew was responding to a 3.52pm pager call by UK Coastguard to a fishing vessel stranded near Crosby.

Hoylake lifeboat station's Shannon class all-weather lifeboat Edmund Hawthorn Micklewood was also involved in the operation.

The teams' was to rescue the vessel's four-man crew, who they returned safely to shore.

Ben's brother Tom, also a member of RNLI New Brighton lifeboat crew, was the third McGinn family member to depart the dinner table.

He was part of the lifeboat shore crew on the day, and played his part in helping bring the fishing vessel to land on New Brighton beach.

Ben said: "This was my first rescue and it was great to be able to put months of training into practice.

"I'm glad it had a happy ending and that everyone was brought to shore safely.

"It was only after that, I thought how special it was to share that experience with my dad."

The men had been enjoying a family Father's Day with mums, siblings, partners and grandparents, when the pager sounded.

Mark said: "We were all enjoying our Sunday dinner but when the beeping starts, you just get going.

"We were on the scene within 16 minutes of being called out, which shows how efficiently we're working.

"As their dad, I'm so chuffed with both lads," Mark said.

"I'm really proud that both of them are not only volunteering as lifeboat crew but the three of us were there for what was fairly challenging rescue given where the boat was situated."

The call out to the fishing vessel was a joint operation involving flanking lifeboat station RNLI Hoylake which, as sea conditions deteriorated, assisted in its rescue. For details visit https://bit.ly/31GD91q.

The McGinn men and RNLI New Brighton lifeboat crew – including Helm Dan Wardle and Helm Jay Hennessey – returned to the boathouse at 7.40pm, where inshore lifeboat Norma Ethel Vinall was prepared for service.