THREE men were rescued from Ullswater after becoming stranded on a battery powered inflatable dinghy.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team were recovering a canoe from an earlier rescue incident on Sunday when they encountered the stricken boaters.

A team spokesman said: "The dinghy was powered by a small outboard motor which was struggling to move the craft after already transporting the men for over nine miles.

"The men said they had decided to 'see if we could make it from one end of Ullswater to the other on a small leisure battery'.

"Having reached the Patterdale end of the lake they turned around only to find that the task was not possible and had begun to row the last eight miles back to Pooley Bridge."

They asked for the assistance of the team, who took their boat onboard and transported them back to the Pooley Bridge.

The spokesman added: "The men, one from Preston and two from Hong Kong, were not well equipped and would not have made it to their destination before nightfall."

Four team members were involved in this incident for approximately 90 minutes.