Three people rescued after large inflatable duck drifts into Bristol Channel

The duck - which has been nicknamed Quackers - has since been commandeered by the RNLI

The inflatable has since been commandeered by the RNLI (Matthew Rowe/RNLI)

Three men had to be rescued after the giant inflatable duck they were sitting on drifted out into the Bristol Channel.

The trio and a friend were reportedly seen pumping up the duck - which has since been nicknamed Quackers - before they took it and an inflatable kayak out to sea on Tuesday.

Within minutes it had drifted out about 250ft from the beach at Westward Ho! near Bideford in Devon despite the friend in the kayak doing his best to drag them back to shore.

The coastguard was called when the inflatable was 650ft offshore.

Before they arrived, a passing paddleboarder came to their rescue and fought against the current to tow them closer to the shore.

This allowed the men to jump off and swim the remaining distance, leaving the inflatable to be immediately blown back out to sea.

Volunteers from Appledore Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) were on a training exercise at the time and later retrieved the inflatable.

RNLI crew member Del Elsemore said: “The quick-thinking of this member of the public with a paddleboard prevented a nasty situation turning much worse. He was the real lifesaver of the day.”

After the callout, the lifeboats returned to their exercise with Quackers on board.

A spokesperson for the rescue charity said: “With the strong tides and offshore breezes of the Bristol Channel, Appledore RNLI urges people never to take an inflatable toy into the sea.

“There is no way to control these and they get pulled out from shore within seconds.

“If any member of the public sees someone getting into difficulty in the water, please, as this eyewitness did, call 999 and ask for the coastguard.”