HMC Searcher approaching Poole Harbour

Her Majesty's cutter SEARCHER, as seen from Studland beach, in the channel leading into Poole Harbour.

In the background is Sandbanks beach, behind which the wooded heights of Canford Cliffs can be seen; delightful and expensive places to live.

There are five such "Border Force" cutters which patrol the UK coastline; their duties include the prevention of smuggling. The length of Britain's coastline depends on precisely how it is measured, but in any event it is over 2,000 miles long.

The maximum speed of these cutters is 26 knots (equivalent to 30 mph, or 50 kms/hour).