A young man had to be winched off a small island by helicopter on Thursday after an ill-advised clamber up the rock left him stuck off a beach in Cornwall.
The Newquay Coastguard Search and Rescue Team were rigging up for a training rescue near Fistral Beach when the real calls started coming in.
At around 7.38pm, the rescue team, coastguard helicopter and RNLI were all on the scene at Whipsiderry near Porth Beach after a report of a person stuck on the cliffs.
The man, who it turned out was in difficulty on Flory Island, was rescued by the coastguard helicopter, which landed in the open ground near Whipsiderry. He was thankfully unharmed and, after some words of advice, reunited with his friends.
He was one of five people rescued by coastguard volunteers within about an hour as darkness fell.
For just under an hour later, the rescue team was called to an incident on nearby Great Western Beach where four people had been cut off by the tide. The group were found against the cliff below Aldi and were picked up by the Newquay RNLI lifeboat.
The team posted: "The team were paged to reports of a casualty stuck on the cliff at Whipsiderry Cliffs near Porth Beach. Upon arrival the team discovered the individual was stuck on Flory Island and a cliff rescue was therefore not possible, Newquay RNLI Lifeboats we’re also in attendance standing by in case the individual fell into the water.
"Newquay HM Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 924 was requested and was on scene within a few minutes. The helicopter crew carried out a successful, tricky lift from Flory and then landed in the open ground near Whipsiderry. The individual was unharmed and after some words of advice was reunited with his friends.
"Whilst packing down from the this rescue the team were tasked again at 2035hrs to reports of 4 persons cut off by the tide at Great Western Beach. Upon arrival the 4 were located up against the cliff below Aldi, and were picked up by the Newquay lifeboat and safely dropped off on great western beach.
"Two successful multi agency rescues safely carried out."
It comes a week after a young boy had to be rescued by firefighters after he got stuck waist-deep in mud while walking his dog on the beach.
Emergency responders rallied to rescue the youngster after he hit a soft spot on the shoreline.
Coastguard and fire crews were called just before 7pm on May 29 to Clevedon Pill in Somerset.
The boy, who was uninjured, was pulled to safety using specialist mud rescue equipment and hosed down, before being wrapped in a blanket.
Portishead Coastguard station officer Barry Darbon said: "The boy was only about 10 metres out on the mud when he became stuck. Two mud technicians went on to the mud to get the boy out.
"This incident just proves that even if mud looks solid, you never know whether there is an air pocket in the mud that could pop and trap you. People should understand that walking out on the mud can be very dangerous."
