Four teenagers rescued in West Kirby after being cut off by the tide

Four teenagers had to be rescued after they were cut off by the tide at Middle Hilbre.

Lifeboat assistance was requested at 10:45pm last night (July 20), following a call to West Kirby's RNLI station from a distressed teenager who had found herself and her friends cut off from a rising 9m tide whilst moving between Middle Hilbre and the main island of Hilbre.

At the time of the call, volunteers had been preparing to provide preemptive assistance to a yacht that had been unable to secure its moorings on West Kirby beach at the time. The HM Coastguard was notified of the call and the crew were paged directly from the station.

On arrival, three crew members rescued the casualties and transferred the group to a D-Class inshore lifeboat returning them safely to shore.

Though shaken by the experience, all four teenagers were unharmed and no medical assistance was required.

Speaking after the call out, Richard Diamond, West Kirby RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: "Getting cut off by the tide can be a frightening experience. We would remind visitors to Hilbre to check the tidal information before setting out and to take appropriate clothing. There is information concerning tide times and height on the noticeboard opposite to the ice-cream kiosk at the Dee Lane end of the Marine Lake and online. As the summer continues, we would remind people it is important to respect the water and to guard against any hazardous situations as the rocks between the islands are extremely slippy and this is made more precarious when it is dark."