A father and son have been rescued after getting stranded in knee-deep mud on Burnham-On-Sea beach.
Burnham-On-Sea Coastguards and BARB Search & Rescue were called to the duo on Thursday afternoon (October 21st), who were a few hundred yards south of the town slip.
A Burnham Coastguard spokesman says: “The father and child were unfamiliar with our beaches and were out exploring when they encountered thick mud that quickly trapped their legs.”
“Despite repeated attempts they were unable to free themselves from the sticky grip of the mud lurking below the sand.”
“We set up two mud rescue technicians in rescue equipment, who pulled two stretchers full of equipment and soon had the pair released from the mud.”
“Meanwhile the ops team were busy setting up for a winch recovery so metal stakes were hammered into the sand and connected up to the petrol winch.”
“Using the rope pulled by the mud techs, once the casualties were safely onboard the winch was fired into life and began pulling the two stretchers complete with muddy explorers back to safety and to a very concerned rest of the family.”
“Tasked to assist us were BARB Search & Rescue, who offered to deploy their mud mats but due to the location it was decided that utilising the stretchers was the quickest and easiest solution.”
“Once everyone was safe we began our clean down. All equipment used has to have a thorough clean and decontamination and takes between two to three hours.”
“There was a number of 999 calls made and we thank everyone who called in and helped keep our beaches safe. As usual, the number to dial is 999 and ask for the Coastguard.”
