Exmouth’s volunteer RNLI lifeboat crew launched yesterday evening (7 April) to rescue two people who had become stuck in the mud in an area on the Exe Estuary known locally as the Duck Pond.

The inshore, D Class lifeboat George Bearman was launched at around 6.30pm and the volunteer lifeboat crew were quickly on scene to discover that two people, a boy and a girl thought to be in their late teens stuck in the mud. After running out of time during a walk on the beach, they had attempted to take a short cut to the train station via a direct route through the Duck Pond and subsequently got stuck.

Initially the tide was too far out and there wasn’t enough water to reach them, but with a fast moving spring tide, the water slowly started to trickle in. Volunteer lifeboat crew member Henry Mock was able to access their location via the seaward side and managed to pull both of them free of the mud.

The male had injured his ankle, and they were taken via the inshore lifeboat to a waiting ambulance, where paramedics took over treatment.

The volunteer lifeboat crew made their way back to the station.