NINE people with learning disabilities were rescued from a mile-and-a-half out at sea when fire engulfed the engine room of the MV Freedom.

The Ridgeway Centre members were returning to Weymouth from a day out at Lulworth Cove when the portside engine sparked flames in the charity vessel.

The three-man volunteer crew aboard the boat managed to extinguish the fire and the Wyke Regis Coastguard Rescue Team towed the crew and passengers into Weymouth Harbour.

The group were taken by lifeboat to a jetty on Nothe Parade, where an ambulance crew checked them over.

Peter Wilson, a day centre officer at Ridgeway, said: “There were flames and a lot of smoke.

“We lifted up the hatch to look and they extinguished it right away but there was still smoke.

“They cut the engine and we limped in on one engine until the coastguard turned up and towed us in.”

Five fire crews from Weymouth, Portland and Dorchester responded to the emergency callout and firefighters lifted one wheelchair-bound woman ashore and carried out a safety check of the boat.

The incident was believed to be a ‘ship fire’ so Weymouth’s aerial ladder platform and Bridport’s breathing apparatus tender also attended and Trinity Road was briefly closed to traffic.

Mr Wilson was ‘incredibly impressed’ by the lifeboat’s quick assistance and the helpfulness of all the other services.

He said: “It’s one of those times when you realise how good our emergency services are.

“This was serious but not as serious as it could have been because some of our people are very vulnerable with mobility and breathing problems.”

He added it was ‘a real blow’ that the charity’s service would now be out of action while it found funds for a new engine and there would be ‘a lot of disappointed people’. Skipper of MV Freedom Tony Hawkins praised his crew’s swift reaction in extinguishing the fire and the emergency services’ response.

He added: “Our engine is seriously damaged so now we have to find several thousand pounds to replace that.

“Obviously we have to cancel a couple of bookings.” Anyone who can help replace the engine is asked to call 01305 761825.