Two girls rescued after being caught in rip at Mawgan Porth

Two girls have been rescued after getting into difficulty in a rip at Mawgan Porth.

Newquay RNLI volunteers were paged at 7.07pm on Saturday after reports that two casualties were in difficulty in the water.

Jeremy Griffiths, chairman of Mawgan Porth Surf Life Saving Club, was singing sea shanties with friends in the Merrymoor Inn when the landlord alerted him.

He said: “The landlord came into the pub and beckoned to me because he knows what I do. He said people were in difficulty in the water.

PRESS PLAY to hear Jeremy explain how it unfolded...

“I jumped onto the wall and saw two heads quite a long way out to sea, with another person closer to shore. I could see they were caught in the current.”

Mr Griffiths called the Coastguard as he ran towards the water before borrowing a small foam surfboard from somebody on the beach.

He said he passed a man who had entered the water in an attempt to help but had found the current too strong.

Mr Griffiths continued: “I looked up several times while paddling over the waves, but I couldn’t see them. To be honest, I was a little worried that I might be too late.

“Then a bigger set of waves came through and, as I got over one of them, I managed to see two heads further out to sea and slightly to my right.”

He reached the first girl, who was struggling, and helped her onto the board. After the second girl was unable to swim towards them, he entered the water and moved the board across to reach her.

“The two girls were holding onto the board with me,” he said. “We were quite a long way out, so I decided not to try to get back in through the surf.

“I thought the safest option was to stay there and wait for the lifeboat. They were scared and wanted to see their mum, so I told them not to worry and that we would get them safely back in.”

Another member of the surf lifesaving club then paddled out and took one of the girls onto his board.

Newquay RNLI launched its Atlantic 85 lifeboat within 14 minutes of being paged, followed shortly afterwards by its smaller D class inshore lifeboat.

Off-duty RNLI lifeguards also assisted, while Newquay Coastguard Rescue Team was deployed on shore and Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 924 attended overhead.

The Atlantic 85 took both girls aboard and returned them to Newquay Harbour, where they were assessed by the South Western Ambulance Service.

The D class lifeboat was stood down and also returned to the harbour.

Newquay RNLI and the Coastguard thanked the surf club members, off-duty lifeguards, members of the public and emergency crews involved.

Anyone who sees somebody in difficulty around the coast should call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

Jeremy has this warning for people heading to the beach...