Woman and dog rescued off coast after being cut off by the tide

A woman and her dog had to be rescued after they were cut off by the tide.

The Wells lifeboat was launched at about 2.20pm on Sunday, February 17.

The crew had also helped walkers who were located at a section of the harbour where the incoming tide could quickly become dangerous.

Wells inshore lifeboat, ILB, was launched in glorious sunshine to assist a woman and her dog who had become cut off by the incoming tide in the harbour.

This comes just two days after the 40th anniversary of the 1979 snowstorm, in which the lifeboat service carried out rescues in atrocious conditions including a blizzard and storm force winds,

The woman climbed into a moored dinghy with her dog to wait for help and a member of the public made a 999 call to alert the Coastguard.

The lifeboat was called at 2.11pm and, watched by hundreds of visitors on the beach, the ILB launched six minutes later and made its way to the scene. The woman and her dog were taken on board and transported to the harbour pontoons where they were met by the Coastguard team.

Spokesman Philip Eaglen said: “A woman and her dog were cut off by the tide. They were picked up, off Wells harbour and brought back safe and well.”

A lifeboat spokesman said on returning to the boathouse the crew spotted some walkers in a dangerous location on the beach to the west side of the harbour where, with a fast incoming tide, it can quickly become dangerous.

They took the ILB round by sea to the walkers and informed them of the danger they were in, showing them the way to proceed to higher, safer ground.

The crew returned to the boathouse at 3.15pm.