A boat carrying far-Right, anti-immigration activists has run into difficulty in the Mediterranean, forcing volunteer rescuers to help.

The C-Star, manned by Defend Europe, reported damage to its engine on Friday morning, issuing a distress call to the Italian coastguard.

The group claims the rescuing of refugees from the Mediterranean Sea, where more than 2,400 men, women and children have drowned so far this year, is part of an “invasion” endangering the continent.

It supporters chartered a 130ft boat and launched a vigilante-style mission earlier this month, with the intent of blocking migrants and taking on the dozen or so humanitarian organisations who pluck refugees and migrants from sinking boats and dinghies.

However, on Friday, they found themselves in need of rescue by the very NGOs they are protesting against.