A father and his nine-year-old son drowned in icy waters while rescuers stood helpless on the coastline only yards away as the pair screamed for help, police said last night.

But emergency services - alerted to the plight of Stewart Rushton, 51, and his son, Adam, in a series of desperate mobile phone calls - could not reach them because of a raging incoming tide.

As the waters rose around the pair - stranded on a sandbank - Mr Rushton, from Dalton, Cumbria, spoke for the last time on the phone with the water lapping around his neck and Adam perched precariously on his shoulders.

Brave Adam had taken the call from the coastguard and told them "My dad is all right" before handing over the phone to his father.

Mr Rushton could hear the police sirens but could not tell which direction they were coming from.

Officers standing on the shore could hear his cries but dared not enter the water due to the treacherous tide.

Mr Rushton's body was later found by his son-in-law at about 10am yesterday in an area of sandbanks and mud flats about two kilometres from the high water mark at Bardsea, Cumbria.

A second body, believed to be that of Adam, was found yesterday afternoon further down the coast towards Barrow.

PC Tony Hawson, one of the first officers on the scene, said: "We did have two-tone sirens but unfortunately he was saying on his mobile phone that he was very disorientated because of the fog and mist around him.

"Some of the officers could hear him shouting but felt helpless because they could not get to him. The run of the tide made it impossible.

"He sounded as though he was a few hundred yards offshore but with the fog, they couldn't tell where he was."

The pair had decided to go fishing on Saturday at Priory Point, near Ulverston, and walked out on to the sand wearing waders.

Having left their fishing equipment in their red Suzuki jeep in the car park, they walked for about ten minutes on to the sand before realising they were in trouble.

Mr Rushton phoned his wife and told her to raise the alarm. She then called the coastguard.

A series of desperate calls were exchanged between Mr Rushton and the emergency services as the rescue operation was launched.

Dennis Laird, the Coastguard's deputy station officer at Walney, said Mr Rushton first called his wife when the incoming tide was ankle-deep.

"He probably did what he thought was the best thing to do, raise the alarm and keep his position," said Mr Laird.

Adam was the second youngest of four children. Mr Rushton, a process worker, had one grandchild.

His family was too distraught to talk about the tragedy last night.