COASTGUARD CO-ORDINATE RESCUE OF TWO BOYS

Liverpool Coastguard co-ordinated the rescue of two boys in their mid teens from a cliff after they were spotted by a passing yacht on 16 July 2001.

The call at just before 4.00 p.m. on VHF channel 16 was made from the yacht `Ketchup’ who spotted the two teenagers about 100 foot up at St Bees in Cumbria.

Both the Whitehaven Coastguard Rescue Team and St Bees lifeboat were called out and the cliff team managed to lower both boys to the waiting lifeboat below.

Ged Lynch, Liverpool Coastguard Watch Manager said, "These two lads were extremely fortunate to be spotted by the crew of the `Ketchup’. They had climbed up the cliff from the beach below and had become frozen to the cliff face. In the meantime the tide had come in and trapped them.

"Unfortunately the area above them has been closed to the public for some time due to foot and mouth restrictions and no members of the public would have heard their calls for help. It appears they had been there for up to two hours before being spotted.

"Due to the nature of the incident we were able to quickly obtain permission from DEFRA and landowners to enter the land and were able to get to them quickly. No injuries were sustained to either youth and they are recovering on dry land at the moment. Fortunately the weather has been fine and sunny today with very little wind.