Mum left sobbing as Range Rover swept away in Cornwall slams those who filmed 'heartbreak'

The owner of a Range Rover which ended up submerged in water as the tide came in has spoken of her family's desperate attempt to save it after the engine failed.

The family, who say they are annual visitors to St Just on the Roseland, had driven their vehicle down the slipway to launch their boat from a trailer as they had done many times before.

But when the engine failed things took a turn for the worst and the 13-year-old vehicle was engulfed by water as the tide rose.

Locals were quick to comment when images of the 4x4 were shared on social media, with many assuming the tourists had misjudged or been unaware of the tide.

The owner hit out at locals and witnesses who she said made no attempt to help them - as her own child had to watch her "sobbing" at the water's edge.

The woman said: "We did not 'go off on our jollies' leaving the car to submerge, we were there the whole time. We watched it happen to our car in the early hours of the morning when we launched our boat.

"The car broke down and despite every attempt to recover it, we instead had to retrieve all our belongings and watch it disappear.

"We launched at low tide at 3.30am as advised by the boatyard, alternatively it would have been afternoon low tide, but as it is such a busy place we wouldn't have been able to get the boat down the narrow road.

"Unfortunately, because it was so early there was nobody around to help us. We are not stupid, we have launched from there numerous times. This time unfortunately the car let us down.

"The people who were stood photographing, videoing and enjoying our heartbreak really do say a lot for the human race. My son had to watch as the water rose over the car while his mum was sobbing next to him."I realise that the actual truth doesn't quite have the same appeal. We were on that beach from 3.30am until 8pm last night and only three people actually helped us in the whole time we were there."