Burnham-On-Sea’s rescue hovercrafts and a team of Coastguards were called out on Monday evening (March 30th) to help two young men attempting to reach the sea at low tide on Berrow beach.
The crews from BARB Search & Rescue and Burnham Coastguard at around 5.15pm when a beach walker dialled 999 and raised concerns for the welfare of the duo.
A BARB spokesman said: “They had been seen by a beach walker heading out past the Berrow shipwreck and through soft sand and mud to try and reach the sea, which was starting to turn in with the tide.”
“BARB’s hovercrafts were quickly launched from Burnham beach and flown to Berrow, joining our colleagues from Burnham Coastguards to investigate.”
“As BARB’s hovercrafts arrived on scene, the crew managed to get a visual on the pair who were thankfully heading back up the beach after finding the mud was extremely soft and they were at risk of becoming stuck if they ventured further out.”
“The BARB crew told the duo of the dangers they had faced, and they were very apologetic for causing a call-out and had learned an important lesson about beach safety.”
“On its return to Burnham, our second hovercraft investigated an object on the tideline that the Coastguards had spotted to check to ensure it wasn’t anything out of place.”
“This was a call-out with another positive outcome – and the first informants did the right thing in dialling 999 and asking for the Coastguards when they had welfare concerns.”
