The new coxswain of the Wells RNLI lifeboat has been called out on his first rescue.

Nicky King, who took on the role after the departure of Allen Frary, began in the post at the beginning of June.

And now he has been called upon for his first operation in charge of the crew when a fishing boat's steering failed near Blakeney Harbour.

Mr King and the crew were called out just after 4pm on Saturday, June 9, when they received a launch request from the UK Coastguard.

Mia Blue, a 10m fishing boat, was experiencing steering problems in the approach to the harbour and had requested assistance.

The all-weather lifeboat Doris M Mann was launched at 4.26pm and the vessel Border Force Special Alert assisted from the harbour.

The lifeboat arrived just before 5pm and Mia Blue was towed to her mooring in Blakeney Pit.

No one was injured during this incident.

A spokesperson for Wells RNLI said: 'For Nicky this was a bread and butter operation he has done many times in the past when standing in for Allen.'

And Mr King said: 'Even though this was a simple operation, you can't take things for granted.'

He added: 'I'm happy everything went according to plan.'

Mr King is a well-known fisherman in Wells.

He was appointed to replace Mr Frary as the coxswain mechanic of Wells Lifeboat after his retirement at the end of March.

Mr King has been a member of the lifeboat crew for 30 years and deputy coxswain to Mr Frary since 2002.

A Wells lifeboat station spokesperson said: 'Nicky King commenced his new role of full-time mechanic and coxswain at the beginning of June and has been spending time at RNLI Headquarters in Poole and at Hastings lifeboat Station receiving training in those aspects of the job that are new to him.

'He was back in Wells on leave at the weekend when the pagers went off and he took the Wells Mersey Lifeboat to sea on his first shout in his new post.'

Mr Frary received numerous commendations during his 42 years as a lifeboat volunteer, including for the rescue of the Dutch sailing barge, Albatross.

RNLI lifeboats around the UK average 24 call outs a day.