A determined man was seen entering the sea to rescue packets of cigarettes from a sinking van.
Bizarre pictures and video showed a large white van sinking from the rising tide at Redcar beach in North Yorkshire earlier today.
A group of men were then seen desperately trying to save the vehicle, which saw a tractor involved to try and tow it out from the sea.
But the efforts were ultimately in vain as the rope apparently kept snapping.
The day's bizarre events took an even stranger turn when a man decided to swim out to the van "for a picture on the roof", before returning with four rescued packets of cigarettes, TeesideLive reports.
Keighly Finnegan saw what happened initially, she said: "The van came on the beach and it had the trailer and speedboat on the back and he kind of did a big U-turn down the other end and went back.
"And then as soon as the engine cut off all of a sudden you could see there was something going on because he was just gesturing and troubled faces and all that kind of stuff.
"He ran back here and then a woman went off the beach and then they came back and there was a lot to do. "
She said people tried pushing it but the water had come in.
She added: "There was about four people trying to push it but it just wouldn't move anywhere."
Jamie Lawrence, 36, from Stockton, was at the beach with his wife Rachel, and twin daughters Isobel and Sophia - both aged 5.
The Teesside Audi motor trade worker said: "We walked from the shops and saw all the crowds and thought it was just a busy day - but then we saw this van stuck in the sea!
"The kids said: 'Daddy, what's that?' It's a bit of a spectacle."
He said the van is now about 100ft from the shore and the water is up to the windows and going into the cab. It's half submerged.
He added: "It's unusual for a Sunday!"
It is understood the vehicle will be recovered when the tide goes back out.
Teesside Live approached the man believed to be the owner of the van but he declined to comment.
