Wirral coastguard were involved in a race against time to rescue a group of walkers trapped on New Brighton beach before the tide came in.
The drama began at around 6.20pm yesterday when the team was alerted to groups of walkers out on North Bank in New Brighton as the tide was around 30 minutes from coming in.
When Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team arrived at the scene they spotted people in immediate danger and alerted New Brighton Lifeboat and Hoylake Hovercraft.
The rescue team then donned full water rescue protective equipment and made their way onto the bank to clear people who had minutes to make their way off before being completely cut off.
By the time the team caught up with two walkers who had headed in the wrong direction the tide had come in. Hoylake Hovercraft then arrived at the scene and carried the stranded walkers and rescue walkers back to safety.
Michael Buratti, station officer for Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team said: “This is the second incident of this nature today on Wirral whereby people have been cut off by the incoming tide and have had to be rescued.
"Luckily, this incident ended well thanks to the joint efforts of Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team and the RNLI. I would like to praise all those who spotted these people in danger and called 999 and asked for the Coastguard which enabled us to respond quickly and deal with the incident.
"We would like to remind people to check tide times if you are going for a walk on the beach and if you do get caught out or you see someone who needs help, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.”
