Millionaire donates thousands to rescuers

A MILLIONAIRE art collector and his wife, who escaped when their helicopter crashed into the sea, are to donate thousands of pounds to the fishermen and lifeboatmen who saved them.

Philip and Lisa Burgess, who is pregnant, were plucked from the water on Monday after clinging to wreckage. Fishermen found them in thick fog off Charmouth, Dorset.

Mr and Mrs Burgess, recovering at their Buckinghamshire home, said they would match the sum they were being paid by a newspaper for their story, and give the entire sum to charity. It is understood that the couple were being paid pounds 10,000 or more for their story.

Yesterday the family was due to discuss how the money should be donated, and whether it would all go to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution or whether some would go to the fishermen who found the couple.