A LIFEGUARD on a paddleboard and an RNLI lifeboat crew helped to rescue two people trapped by a rising tide at a notorious cliffside cut-off point this afternoon.

The RNLI sprung into action to save the Darlington man and his sister after they became stranded at the base of Huntcliff, Saltburn.

A rapidly incoming tide left the man and his sibling, who was visiting from Canada, cut-off from shore.

The Redcar RNLI lifeboat reached the scene at around 2.10pm, where a crew member waded ashore to guide the pair over rocks to the waiting boat.

After clambering on board, they were taken to the Ship Inn slipway in Saltburn where they were placed into the care of coastguard rescue teams from Redcar, Skinningrove and Staithes.

The lifeguard who made his way to the scene on a paddleboard returned to shore unaided.

Dave Cocks, Lifeboat Operations Manager at Redcar RNLI said: “The lady had become quite upset by her ordeal and needed a lot of reassurance before she was taken to the lifeboat.

“The volunteer crew member who waded ashore, Nathan Hobday, was able to comfort the lady and help her get safely into the lifeboat.

“He even put her mobile phone inside his waterproof drysuit to protect it during the rescue.

“This was again an all-to familiar situation for us. With the state of the tide as it was, once someone finds themselves cut-off ahead, the sea has risen behind them as well, so there's nowhere to go.

“Once that happens, the best thing is to raise the alarm and wait for rescue. Both climbing the cliff and attempting to swim to safety have their obvious dangers.

“And of course the best plan is to avoid the situation in the first place by checking the tide times.”