THE FIANCEE of a North Yorkshire father-of-two held captive in Iran with four fellow sailors for a week says she was “very, very glad” after the group were released.

The yachtsmen were allowed home by the country’s Revolutionary Guard after their ordeal began when they accidentally strayed into Iranian waters while taking part in a race from Bahrain to Dubai.

A statement released by officials in Iran has now said the interrogations of 26-year-old Sam Usher, from Scarborough, and his crewmates had revealed their “illegal entry” was “a mistake”.

Mr Usher, together with Luke Porter, 21, from Weston-super-Mare, Oliver Smith, 31, from Southampton, Oliver Young, 21, from Saltash in Cornwall and Bahrain-based David Bloomer, believed to be in his 60s, were due to be flown to Dubai yesterday following their seizure on November 25. Nicola Drayton, who is engaged to Mr Usher – the owner of Wykeham Watersports, a sailing academy near Scarborough – said the hardest part of the ordeal had been “not knowing where they are – not having contact with them... We’ll be very, very glad to get them home”.

The sailor’s mother, Sue Stroud, said there would be “some tears of joy” when the group returned to the UK.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said it had been “a purely consular case” and he was pleased it had been dealt with in “a professional and straightforward way” by the Iranian authorities. “I’m really delighted that it’s over for them and we can call the matter closed,” he said.

The crew’s Kingdom Of Britain yacht was recently launched by Team Pindar, owned by Scarborough-based print and publishing business G A Pindar & Son Ltd.