Burnham-On-Sea’s rescue hovercraft was called out last night (Monday) to help Coastguards and the RNLI in the rescue of a stranded vehicle on a local beach.
BARB Search & Rescue’s hovercraft was tasked at 6pm by Coastguards after a brand new Range Rover was reported to be stuck in the mud over 400 metres from the main beach at Weston.
“The driver of the Range Rover was a young man who had attempted to test out the vehicle, having watched TV adverts of it being driven off-road – but without realising how dangerous the mudflats can be,” said a Coastguard spokesman.
The hovercraft crew, with two Weston Coastguard mud technicians onboard, flew out to check that all the occupants were free from the vehicle.
Attempts were made to free the vehicle using spades and boards without luck and Weston RNLI’s tracked launching vehicle was used to successfully pull the vehicle to safety with just minutes to spare before the tide was set to surround it.
“This was a good example of close team working to get a successful outcome,” added the Coastguard spokesman.
“Our advice to motorists using local beaches is never to put their vehicles at risk by driving beyond the hard sand at the top of the beach.”
During the evening, the BARB hovercraft also flew out to several mud walkers far out on the tideline – and one was flown back to safety as a precaution.
The incident followed a busy weekend in which BARB and local Coastguards were called out multiple times to help people who had got into difficulty during the hot weather and Weston Air Show, as reported here.
