A lifeboat volunteer proved he is fluent in ‘sí safety’ after coming to the rescue of a stricken Spanish ship.

Brighton lifeboat station crew member Marcus Morris showed he had a hola lot of skills beyond basic seafaring when he came to the aid of a Spanish sailor struggling to enter Brighton Marina on Monday evening.

Able to speak barely a word of English, the stricken señor, who was en route from France, had difficulty explaining to coastguard officers why he was struggling to get into the marina after getting stuck on mud at low tide.

Fluent Spanish speaker Mr Morris, who has been a lifeboat volunteer for five years, answered the call of lifeboat operations manager Roger Cohen and dropped everything to help cross the language barrier.

The 40-year-old, a self-employed carpenter and builder, has become adept at the language thanks to his Spanish wife Roccio.

Mr Cohen said: “We found out that the yachtsman had become stuck in some mud at low tide.

“We launched our lifeboat, Random Harvest, and escorted the yacht Finesse into Brighton Marina.

"The Spaniard, who was in his 60s, was really grateful and I think the fact he had a native speaker to converse with made the experience that little bit less stressful for him.”