A person has been rescued after getting stuck in mud on Burnham-On-Sea beach.
Burnham Coastguards and BARB Search & Rescue were called out at 2.20pm on Wednesday (July 12th) to help a man stranded near the jetty.
The RNLI lifeguards – who have just begun their summer patrols in Burnham – spotted the man was in difficulty and raised the alarm.
The lifeguards shouted to him to remain still from the hard sand before contacting the Coastguard.
A Burnham Coastguard spokesman said: “We arrived on scene, along with a BARB hovercraft, and set up for a technical mud rescue. along with Weston Coastguards who were tasked.”
“Our mud technicians pulling stretchers were then sent out to the man who wasn’t very far off the sand and discovered him stuck around knee deep.”
“Using the stretchers as working platforms they quickly managed to free the man who had been doing some fishing related activities.”
“He had been along the same part of the beach for the last couple of days and it had been hard and easy to walk on, today it had shifted and he broke through the crust and sank.”
“The Coastguard techs got him to stand on the stretcher and made a walking platform, shuffling them along in turn until he was back on the hard sand, where he made his way off for a good wash down.”
“This is a great example of how the landscape of the beach changes, not just weekly or monthly but with each and every tide.”
“A safe area one tide can be soft and sticky the next. Always take care while on the beach, even experienced beach users such as this chap can be caught out.”
“The lifeguards did a great job of communicating with the person and did the right thing in calling it in – they are not equipped to rescue people from the mud so their actions were spot on.”
“As always working with these different teams and assets is a pleasure.”
