A fishing boat and its three-man crew remain missing, as coastguards continue to search off the Dorset coast.

The Weymouth-based boat, named the Purbeck Isle, has not been seen since leaving port on Thursday morning.

Coastguards launched a search on Thursday night after it was reported missing at around 6pm.

A spokeswoman for the the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the fishing boat is 11m long and used as a "potter", to catch possibly lobster or crab using pots.

"The search area is 10 miles off the coast of Portland Bill," she said.

She said searches were being carried out by the coastguard helicopter from Lee-on-Solent, and the Weymouth RNLI lifeboat.

Last night coastguards enlisted the help of Navy warships in the hunt, but the spokeswoman said the search was continuing with the helicopter and lifeboat on Friday.