A family of four people was rescued after getting stranded in a car on Brean beach on Sunday afternoon (September 10th).
BARB Search & Rescue and Burnham Coastguards were called to the beach at 4.45pm where the Ford’s wheels had sunk into soft sand a quarter of a mile down the beach.
The alarm was initially raised by beach warden Dave Furber and crews were quickly on scene to help.
Three children and an adult were carried to safety by members of Burnham-On-Sea Coastguard’s Mud Team, assisted by BARB’s volunteers.
Given the state of the fast-incoming tide, a nearby Brean farmer was called in to help free the vehicle.
BARB securely attached its safety ropes to the vehicle before the tractor pulled the vehicle free.
Burnham Coastguard Officer Dave Welland told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “A call was initially received from the beach warden who was initially concerned that a vehicle was stranded in the mud.”
“It was initially unknown whether there were still passengers inside, but when it became clear that there were, a team of Coastguards was sent alongside BARB.”
“Several Coastguard Mud Technicians with stretchers walked out to the car to remove the three children and an adult inside.”
“As it happened the sand was good all the way up to the car – the sand only gave way to the weight of the car. We assisted the family out of the car and helped to bring the children back to the safety of the beach.”
“A local farmer was also contacted and his tractor was used to tow the vehicle from the mud before the incoming tide could reach it.”
He added: “We always suggest that motorists stay on the hard sand at the top of the beach. The occupants did the correct thing in staying in the vehicle until help arrived to safely rescue them.”
The BARB hovercraft was also taken by road to Brean Beach during the incident, but was not required to launch on this occasion.
Local farmer Richard Bigwood brought his tractor onto the beach to assist in the recovery of the vehicle.
BARB securely attached its ropes to the vehicle and the tractor then pulled the stricken vehicle out of the mud before the tide was able to reach it. The car owner made a donation to BARB for its time.
