Five people rescued from Holy Island Causeway

Five people, including a child, were rescued after two cars became trapped on Holy Island Causeway.

The RNLI and coastguard were called out to help the passengers on Sunday afternoon, when their vehicles were submerged after the tide came in.

Northumberland County Council has now established the electronic signage on the island side of the causeway had been vandalised at some point over the past few days, which had reset the display showing safe crossing times.

During a site inspection it was witnessed that the security padlock on the electronic sign had been damaged and the electronics tampered with, which in turn had caused an issue with the electrics inside causing the sign to reset.

Drivers were advised it was not safe to try to cross the causeway between 11.40am and 5.15pm.

The Council is now looking into what improvements can be made with the temporary signage so this issue does not occur in the future.

However there is a range of clearly displayed warning signs at both sides of the causeway reminding all drivers not to attempt the crossing if there is water on the road, and drivers should also be able to see the tide on the causeway.