WHAT do you do if you spot an emergency from a distance but are in a foreign country, don't speak the language and don't know the local procedures? Enterprising tourist Keith Pocock found himself in this situation, and solved it by phoning home!
Pocock, 38, was driving towards a marina, where his boat was moored, when he saw a vessel on fire offshore.
As he was not sure who to call, he rang his 18-year-old son Richard, who was in the family home in Axminister, Devon.
He in turn contacted Falmouth Coastguards, who alerted their Spanish counterparts, and the people on the boat were pulled to safety.
According to BBC News, Pocock, who was holidaying with the rest of his family, said they saw smoke from a few miles away. We were going back to our boat and had a nose to see what was going on and went out on to a headland and we could see this fire.
He added that they thought the easiest way to get hold of the the rescue service would be to do it via the UK system.
Mick Quinn, watch manager at Falmouth Coastguard, confirmed the story, adding we received a message from Madrid saying a rescue vessel was on the scene and had recovered two people. They were told that the vessel was adrift and on fire
The Spanish sea rescue service confirmed that two crew members had been plucked from a burning boat and had been taken to the nearest port.
They were not injured during their ordeal, the emergency services reported.
The boat eventually sank and the rescue service later to steps to ensure that it would not be a danger to shipping.
Tourist´s quick phone call home saves two sailors on burning boat