Library picture: The Joanna C

Two men are missing after a fishing boat sank off the coast of Sussex.

A third man was pulled to safety.

HM Coastguard scrambled a search and rescue helicopter after picking up an SOS distress signal from the vessel Joanna C.

The helicopter from Lydd in Kent was deployed as were two lifeboats from Newhaven and Eastbourne.

The Joanna C’s beacon signal put her three nautical miles off the coast at Sleaford, near Newhaven.

One man was found clinging to a lifebuoy.

The search continues for the other crewmen.

The vessel is owned by Derek Meredith and skippered by Nathan Clark.

The Joanna C is a 45ft scalloping vessel registered in Brixham.

HM Coastguard controller Piers Stanbury said:

“Thankfully one of the three people on board at the time of sinking has been pulled out of the water and brought to shore by the Newhaven RNLI lifeboat but the intensive air and sea search for the two missing crew continues.

“Debris has been located close to the location of the alert location but no life raft has been found as yet.”