Two missing as fishing boat sinks off Pembrokeshire coast

It is currently unknown how many crew were on board when the ship sank

Three RNLI lifeboats and helicopter are searching the area (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty)

A fishing boat has sunk off the Pembrokeshire coast, the UK Coastguard has said.

The Coastguard received a 999 call just before 2.30pm from a member of the public saying they could see a fishing vessel in difficulty near the rocks at St David's Head.

Two crew members are believed to have been on board the ship, thought to be "The Harvester" which operated from Milford Haven, when it sank.

Three RNLI lifeboats and the Coastguard Rescue Teams from St David's Head and Fishguard are searching the area, along with the Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at St Athan.

A spokesman for St David's Head Lifeboat Station said: "We've got three boats out searching, there are cliff teams out walking and the coastguard rescue helicopter.

"The fishing vessel hit rocks off Abereiddi beach, members of the public spotted this boat had hit the rocks.

"Our all-weather lifeboat and inshore lifeboat were deployed to the scene.

"In the meantime this vessel has sunk, it was approximately a mile offshore, there were two persons on board."

He added: "There's an intensive search ongoing now. Debris has been found on the surface.

"In that area where there are rocks under the surface, they wouldn't have been fishing, so we are not sure what there were doing there.

"We're trying to plot the tides to try and see where they could have got washed into a cove or washed to shore."

Additional reporting by PA