Police called to rescue people stuck in mud get trapped themselves

Three police officers called out to help a party of walkers stuck in mud were among six people who had to be rescued by coastguards. Police officers called to save walkers who got stuck in some mud had to be saved themselves after getting trapped in the bog, prompting a three hour rescue operation.  Three PCs were responding to a 999 call after two men and a woman began to sink into the muddy base by the foot of cliffs at Barton-on-Sea in Hampshire.  The officers became stuck themselves and had to be rescued by coastguards and fire crews using specialist equipment.  The operation, on Saturday, February 1, took so long mainly because the three walkers were stuck fast in the mud. Two were trapped to their waist and had to be dug out.  Danny Hawkes, station officer at Poole coastguard, said: ‘Originally there were three people stuck in the mud and three police officers attended and tried to free them but got themselves stuck which was when we were tasked. Rescue teams scale a cliff during the incident at Osmington Mills (Picture: BNPS) ‘Coastguards and the fire crews took it in turns to work to free everybody.’ Advertisement Advertisement  Further along the coast at Osmington Mills, near Weymouth, a dog-walker also had to be rescued by coastguards after falling off a cliff into thick mud.  She was trapped to her knees and unable to free herself.  Tonny Goss, of Wyke Regus coastguard, said: ‘She had fallen over in clay mud and her feet were well wedged in it.  ‘She was lying on it and was caked in mud and very cold. Coastguards from Lymington, Southbourne and Poole and fire crews from both Hampshire and Dorset arrived at the scene and used specialist equipment to free all six casualties (Picture: BNPS) ‘Her partner did the sensible thing and called 999 rather than try to rescue her himself otherwise he could have got stuck.  ‘The woman was very anxious and cold and wet.’  Coastguards used a pressure hose on the mud around her feet to free her, placed the woman on a stretcher, and lifted up to the top of the cliff where she was checked over by ambulance paramedics. Got a story for Metro.co.uk?  Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. For more stories like this, check our news page. Advertisement Advertisement