Angler saved by lifejacket's reflective strips
An angler has been saved after a night-time search and rescue operation off Lepe Beach, Hampshire.
The fisherman was pulled from the water after a helicopter crew spotted the reflective strips on his lifejacket.
The alarm was raised by a member of the public who heard the fisherman's cries for help at about 23:00 BST on Thursday.
The man, in his late 60s, was found in an "extremely bad way" suffering from hypothermia, Hampshire Police said.
He is being treated in hospital.
Tony Wheeler, from Solent Coastguard, said: "He was found alive because of his lifejacket.
"It was the reflective strips that the helicopter quickly spotted with their search light and enabled them to guide the lifeboat straight to him."
It is thought he ended up in the water after his anchored fishing boat was overturned by a wave.
The man's boat was found capsized a quarter of a mile offshore at the entrance of the Beaulieu River.