Passengers and crew have been airlifted from the ferry Riverdance which has grounded on the foreshore at Blackpool.

Rescue Helicopters from the Royal Navy, RAF and Irish Coastguard have been on scene overnight and 14 people including the four passengers were winched off and were transferred safely to Blackpool airport.

The nine crew initially remained on board to ballast the vessel to improve stability while aground. However they were unable to move the ship and were airlifted off this morning.

See the BBC’s coverage of the grounding.