Five trapped on car roof on Holy Island Causeway

Northumberland Coastguard teams were called out to Holy Island Causeway after five people were trapped on the roof of their car.

Emergency services joined Berwick, Holy Island and Seahouses Coastguard Rescue Teams on Monday afternoon to assist the occupants of a vehicle who had got stuck on the Causeway. Firefighters from Berwick's Water Rescue Team were deployed into the water in full rescue PPE in fading light.

All five people on the car were brought back to dry land on a lifeboat, before being handed to the care of the North East Ambulance Service. Monday's rescue was the second time Coastguard teams were called to the Causeway in 23 hours.

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Sunday's rescue involved two casualties who had made it to the refuge box on Holy Island Causeway, with their car partly submerged. Both days saw tides in excess of five metres, which were enough to completely submerge vehicles.

A North East Ambulance Spokesperson said: "We received a call at 3.18pm yesterday afternoon to reports of a car in water on Holy Island causeway.

"We dispatched two ambulance crews and a duty officer to the scene, and supported our colleagues at the coastguard. Our services were not needed and were stood down."

Berwick Coastguard and Seahouses RNLI both urged people not to attempt crossing the causeway outside of the published safe crossing times.

Motorists can check crossing times online by visiting holyislandcrossingtimes.northumberland.gov.uk. Visitors are advised to leave half an hour extra around these times for their journey, to account for bad weather or unusually high tides.