Published: October 2, 2011
Mudflats walkers keep Burnham-On-Sea hovercraft crews busy

The crew of Burnham-On-Sea's rescue hovercraft were kept busy on Sunday (October 2nd) when the heatwave tempted scores of beach visitors to wade out across the mudflats to reach the sea for a paddle.

Coastguards called BARB to Uphill on Sunday evening at 6pm after a group of children briefly got stuck near the River Axe. The youngsters scrambled to safety.

BARB was also put on standby when a group of young people got into difficulty on Brean beach at the same time. Three people, from Stourport in the West Midlands, were spotted in difficulty almost three quarters of a mile from the shore and were escorted back to the shore.

Crewmembers onboard Burnham's Spirit Of Lelaina hovercraft also warned several groups of walkers about the danger they were potentially putting themselves in by entering the mud.

"With one of the lowest tides of the year falling on such a hot day, many beach visitors were tempted to cool off by wading out to the sea, in turn putting themselves in possible danger," a BARB spokesman told Burnham-On-Sea.com.

"We were relieved that no-one got into any serious difficulty."

RELATED LINKS:

Official BARB Web site