An all-female sailing crew from Oxfordshire feared for their lives when their holiday yacht sprang a leak and began to sink.

The boat was in the Aegean sea, five miles off the Greek island of Skiathos, when the crisis began.

The crew set off flares, made five mayday emergency calls on the radio and started frantically bailing out water which had risen to their knees.

With no other vessels in sight, they began to panic when no-one responded to their calls.

The crew of seven women, led by Clare Dunning, of Milton-under-Wychwood, had to wait an agonising 45 minutes before being rescued.

They were unaware that their distress signals had brought passenger ferries to a standstill while yachts from all around were heading towards them.

They struggled back to shore and safety with the hole plugged with a broom handle and towel

One crew member, Sally Chard, of Stonesfield, who had never sailed before, said: "It was very scary. We didn't know if anyone was coming.

"We were setting off flares, bucketing water out, putting our lifejackets on and getting emergency money and passports ready."

Mrs Dunning went below and found water "sloshing about". She said: "I felt absolute horror and I didn't know where to begin."

She was forced to make her first mayday call in 20 years of sailing.

She said: "No-one responded. It was very disconcerting so I repeated it four or five times."

Sarah Amey, from Stanford in the Vale, Ruth Gillingam, from Milton-under-Wychwood, Nicky Ayre, of Winchester, and Beatrice Cutler, from Wokingham, had previous sailing experience.

But Mrs Chard and Laura Feeley, from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, had never sailed before.

Finally a Greek coastguard and a passing yacht arrived to help.

Three crew members from the yacht, called Paris, boarded the sinking vessel, found a hole caused by a broken propeller shaft and plugged it with a broom handle and towel.

Mrs Chard said: "We're trying to find out who the owners of Paris are, so we can thank them."

As the crew made their way to shore, more yachts and boats whose crews had heard the distress warning arrived to help out. Mrs Dunning said: "It was wonderful to know that so many people came to our assistance. We'd gone out for a week's relaxation and it turned into a nerve-racking experience.

"Luckily it hasn't put anyone off sailing and we're planning to go again next year."