A group of paddle boarders – including a 7-year-old child and 3 teenagers – are being rescued this afternoon (Sunday) after getting stuck near Freshwater Bay.
The incident began shortly before 14:00 when Solent Coastguard were alerted to the plight of a group of people at Watcombe Bay, to the west of Freshwater.
It’s known that the individuals paddle boarded around from Freshwater but have found they are unable to safely get out of Watcombe Bay.
Both Yarmouth RNLI and Freshwater Independent Lifeboat have attended the scene but, due to the tidal conditions, the casualties cannot be evacuated onto either lifeboat.
Coastguard Rescue Teams from Ventnor and The Needles are now working to recover the group to the top of the cliffs by means of a rope rescue.
UPDATE – The group have been successfully rescued by Coastguard Officers and have been reunited with their family.
The incident has been brought to a close.
If you or someone else is in difficulty on the coast or at sea, or if you spot what you think may be unexploded ordnance, then dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard. Further safety information can be found at https://coastguardsafety.campaign.gov.uk/.
Get help faster by giving emergency services your exact location by using ///what3words.
what3words have divided the world into 3m squares and given each square a unique combination of three words, which means when you are in a remote area of the Isle of Wight you can get assistance much quicker without the need for local knowledge.
And where were the parents of the youngsters while they needed help not watching them by the look of it
The County Press online has made itself pointless for Island news. Since it’s got greedy and demands that we pay for them to tell us what the local news is or you only get a couple of sentences for FREE, after that YOU WILL PAY. So stuff you County Press I’m sticking with Island Echo online, who not only gives us the news, but often 24 hrs before the County Press does and it’s also FREE to read. RIP County Greedy Press.
The CP keeps creeping up in price and is rubbish as you say better quicker more detailed news as it happens here
Just delete the cookies from your browser and you get another 20 articles
Gave up on that woke garbage county press last year, its anti teen, anti male, pro rainbow and progression not interested in ground level news that does not fit the agenda, very sad, i used to work for southern newspapers on the echo when it was in southampton, the Echo is still bang on pulse, always trying to give a balance including many photos to illustrate the story, we may not agree (editor and me) on many things but truth is real and the iow deserves the truth, great reporting Darren..