Olivia Hart (10) and older brother James (11), of Bell Hill, were out on a family excursion at the lake after Olivia had been given a toy speedboat for her birthday.

On arriving at the heath for its maiden voyage, the Hart family came across a man in distress.

His £250 model sailing boat had got stuck in some willow branches out on the island in the centre of the pond, and he called on them to help.

Mum Julie said: “My daughter had been given that motorboat for her birthday the day before, so we decided to go down to the lake to try it out. Just as we were arriving, we passed this chap who had got his sailing boat stuck in the middle of the lake.

“He asked ‘maybe you could help me?’

“The top of his sail had got caught in the willow branches and he had run out of batteries.”

Dad Steven went to call on some friends in Sussex Road who owned a kayak, but when he learned they were out the it was suggested the children could save the day.

So Olivia handed over the controls of her boat to James and he began a dramatic rescue mission.

Julie said: “After checking that it could reach, we launched our motor boat and sent it across the lake to try and dislodge the sailing boat.

“By this time a fair crowd were standing and looking as my daughter's motor boat sped across the lake to the other boat.

“It managed to hook onto the sailing boat and after a tense 15 minutes, having to contend with the wind, the sailing motor boat was pulled back to shore and everyone applauded.”

The owner of the sailing boat was delighted and thanked James, a student of Churcher’s College, and Olivia, a pupil of Langrish Primary School, for saving his expensive model.

Julie added: “It was quite an exciting little interlude for a Sunday afternoon.”