A WARNING about getting caught out by high tides has been issued ahead of the bank holiday in the wake of the latest RNLI rescue.

So far this year, the volunteer crew has been called out to four emergencies at the foot of Huntcliff, Saltburn to help ten people who found themselves trapped by the rising tide.

The latest rescue on Tuesday afternoon saw a couple dial 999 at around 3.30pm when they found themselves trapped while walking from Skinningrove towards Saltburn.

Two RNLI lifeboats from Redcar were dispatched, while the UK Coastguard helicopter was scrambled to assist in the rescue.

The station’s smaller inshore lifeboat was manoeuvred through difficult seas to reach the couple.

The man, aged 61-years-old, was taken on board the lifeboat and landed near the Ship Inn, Saltburn, where he was assessed by paramedics before being taken to James Cook University Hospital for treatment for hypothermia.

The inshore lifeboat returned to pick up the woman, aged 58-years-old, but by this time sea conditions had worsened and the woman was unable to board the lifeboat.

As a result, the helicopter crew was required to winch the woman to safety and took her to Durham Tees Valley Airport where an ambulance was waiting to take her to James Cook University Hospital. There she was assessed before being reunited with her husband.

The coastguard helicopter refuelled and returned to Saltburn to winch the lifeboat crew clear of the cliffs and to return them to the lifeboats.

Dave Cocks, lifeboat operations manager at Redcar RNLI said: “With the promise of some reasonable weather over the bank holiday and schools half term it’s worth repeating yet again our safety message.

“We have a beautiful stretch of coastline here and it’s great to see the beaches full of people having fun.

“But it’s no fun finding yourself trapped, cold and wet, by the relentless approach of the tide. Once you are pinned against the base of the cliffs, there’s nowhere to go. You will need to be rescued, and you have to raise the alarm early.

“There’s a misconception that the danger point is when it is high tide, but that’s not correct. Once low tide has passed, and the sea is on its way back in, that’s the dangerous time.

“The most common time to be cut off at Huntcliff is about three hours after the tide has started to come in. That also means there’s another three hours of rising tide to come, and that is obviously going to have serious consequences.”

The RNLI offers advice to anyone using the beach: including checking the tide times; always look for areas of the beach patrolled by lifeguards; never swim on your own; and always have someone with you who can raise the alarm.

Tide times for Saltburn can be found on the Redcar RNLI website at www.redcarlifeboat.org.uk

And for comprehensive sea safety advice visit the RNLI website www.rnli.org.uk