TWO fishermen narrowly escaped with their lives after becoming trapped inside a sinking trawler that was rapidly filling with water.

Father-of-three Anton Bailey and crewman Joseph Fondy were in the galley of the Aleyna, a 46ft fishing boat working out of Brixham, when her gear became caught on the sea bed and she flipped upside-down yesterday morning.

The two men had to wait for the boat to fill with water, cutting off their supply of air, before they could force open a door to escape.

Mr Bailey, speaking from his home in Brixham last night, said: "The boat turned over in about three or four seconds. We were both stuck inside but we managed to get out pretty quickly."

They were stranded in the sea 26 miles south-east of Exmouth, but luckily another Brixham fishing boat was nearby and picked them up. Fellow fishermen Dave Driver and Kevin Dallow, of the vessel Girl Debra, had been fishing for squid and cod since 3.45am. They were a mile away from the Aleyna at 8.15am and saw her capsize.

Mr Driver, 47, said: "I have been at sea for 32 years and I have never seen anything like this before. I hope never to see anything like it again.

Click to view mobile phone video of the Aleyna sinking

"There were sandy banks underneath the water. I think they must have caught the corner of one of the banks. All of a sudden the boat stopped and with the tide pushing them as well, it turned right over."

Immediately, the men put in a mayday radio broadcast to Brixham coastguard. Portland Coastguard rescue helicopter was scrambled, but in the meantime Mr Driver and Mr Dallow dumped their trawl and motored towards the Aleyna. Mr Driver said: "We dropped all our gear, about £10,000 worth of fishing gear. Our priority was to get Anton and his crew out of the water."

They managed to get in close and winch the two men, who had already been in the water for 15 minutes, on to their vessel. They gave the pair dry clothes and waited for the rescue helicopter.

Adrian Rogers, winchman with Coastguard Rescue 106, was one of the first emergency crew to arrive at the scene. He said: "When we got there, the two casualties were recovered to the helicopter by double lift. One man was seriously hypothermic so was put in a hypothermic blanket. He also had a small cut to the left brow and a little bit of bruising. The other guy, the owner, was mildly hypothermic and very shocked."

The two men were monitored and given oxygen while they were taken to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester. They were examined at the hospital, treated for minor injuries and discharged soon after.

The capsized vessel sank at 10.30am. HMS Bulwark was nearby and remained on standby at the scene until Exmouth lifeboat arrived. The lifeboat crew managed to recover the life raft, life rings, fish boxes and other debris before the boat sank.

Mr Driver and Mr Dallow spent the rest of the day retrieving their fishing gear and managed to recover everything they had lost, apart from their catch.

Mr Driver said: "It wasn't an issue – the main importance was getting those boys out of the water as soon as possible."

Mr Bailey, 34, originally from Jersey, has only been based in Brixham since September. He was recovering at home last night with his partner and three children, aged three, six and nine. He said: "We were very lucky that the Girl Debra was there. Many thanks to Dave Driver and his crew – we're very thankful for what they've done. We owe our lives to him and his fast actions."

Both he and Mr Fondy, 43, have recovered from their ordeal but said they remained "a bit shaken and disorientated".

Regarding his sunken trawler, Mr Bailey said: "At the end of the day, it's only a boat and I'm still here. This was the luckiest day of my life."