TWO men were plucked from the wreckage of a luxury motorboat after it caught on fire in the Solent today.

The pair had just taken delivery of the new 34ft Meridian motorboat when a blaze broke out just off Calshot Spit shortly before 1.30pm.

The men were alerted to the fire by blue smoke pouring from the exhaust.

There was no time to send out a distress call and both men abandoned ship and got into the boat's liferaft.

The pair, who both sustained injuries, were rescued by members of Calshot RNLI lifeboat crew.

The men, who had been on route to their home in Rye, Sussex, were met on the shore by an ambulance which took them to Southampton General Hospital.

Read more in tomorrow's Daily Echo</p>">