TWO 13-year-old boys who took a dinghy and paddled out into Holes Bay narrowly avoided disaster when the boat sank.

The teenagers, both from Hamworthy, took the boat from the waterside near the former Hamworthy power station site just after 7pm on Tuesday.

But they got into trouble when the boat started leaking – then sank completely.

They managed to scramble onto another boat moored on a buoy and raised the alarm at 7.23pm, calling 999 on a mobile phone.

Poole RNLI inshore lifeboat was tasked to rescue the cold, wet pair, who were taken to Poole Lifeboat Station where they were met by coastguards and the police.

Coastguard Pip Hall, East Dorset Sector manager, said: “We would really recommend to owners if they know their boat is not fit to go to sea or broken they pull them well clear of the water to stop this sort of thing happening. And to youngsters – don’t go pushing boats out, or stealing boats. They were taking a big risk.”

A Dorset Police spokesman said officers interviewed the boys and who took them home. The ownership of the boat, which may have been abandoned, hadn’t been established, so no charges were being brought at this stage.