A fisherman who went overboard off the South Hams coast earlier this morning (Sunday, March 10) has been rescued alive by the HM Coastguard Newquay helicopter after being in very rough seas for an hour.

HM Coastguard was coordinating the large-scale search and rescue mission for the missing Brixham trawlerman who went overboard 25nm south east of Salcombe.

The fishing vessel made a Mayday broadcast minutes before 4.45am today and the HM search and rescue helicopter based at Newquay quickly made their way sent to the scene, alongside RNLI Salcombe and Torbay all-weather Lifeboats.

A French Navy aircraft, which was training in the area at the time, and a number of fishing vessels responded to a Mayday Relay broadcast issued by HM Coastguard and also joined the search.

The fisherman was located by his own crewmates at 5.45am and the Newquay Coastguard helicopter was alerted to his position and winched him from the water. He had been in the water for an hour in 3-4m seas and 9C sea temperature and was suffering from the cold.

The Newquay Coastguard helicopter flew him directly to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth.

HM Coastguard duty controller Dai Jones said: "We could not have hoped for a better outcome. Our own Coastguard helicopter and a French Navy helicopter, along with a number of fishing vessels and the RNLI, had been searching for nearly an hour this morning in very rough seas and challenging weather conditions. Thankfully, the fisherman was wearing a lifejacket, which no doubt aided his survival and enabled his crewmates to find him quickly.

"By taking this simple safety precaution means that when he fell into the water his survival time increased significantly, despite the cold water and the horrendous weather conditions.

"This could have been a very different outcome today had he not been wearing his lifejacket and we commend his actions, which have assisted in saving his life. We wish him a speedy recovery.’Alan Letcher posted on the Brixham Fish Town Facebook, along with a chart showing the position of various vessels at the time of the search: "This was the scene this morning when one of our fishermen got lost overboard from one of our Brixham trawlers."Time was 4.45am total darkness out there."For obvious reasons I’m not naming the person or the trawler but he was in the water for a hour. [It is] amazing how the helicopter found him and he’s made full recovery in hospital."Just amazing how he survived. His lifejacket saved him and his will to live."