A MUM and her five-year-old daughter have been rescued from quicksand/mud and an incoming tide.

Coastguards got the two to safety during a dramatic operation against time at Blue Anchor Beach yesterday afternoon (Saturday).

Watchet Coastguard was supported by HM Coastguard Minehead and Coastguard Helicopter Rescue 187 from St Athan in South Wales.

The woman called 999 for the Coastguard at 2.10pm, reporting that she was stuck in the mud with her daughter in her arms.

They had been out walking their collie dog, which had safely made it to shore.

The coastguard operations room at Milford Haven sent both the Watchet team as the Mud Rescue Team plus a flanking team from Minehead to assist.

The coastguard helicopter and two RNLI lifeboats from RNLI Lifeboat Station, Minehead, also attended.

Within four minutes the first coastguards were on scene with the rest of the team and coastguard helicopter there within 15 minutes.

The woman was up to her waist in mud and up to her chest in water when an immediate water rescue was undertaken by Deputy Station Officer Richard Nicholas who was attached to a floating line.

He immediately took the young girl from the mother’s arms and took her back to shore by the shore-based coastguards, recovering them using the floating line, while the mother was winched out of the mud by the helicopter and taken to shore.

The Minehead lifeboats were stood down en route to the scene as both casualties and coastguard rescuers were out of the water.

Both casualties were then handed into the care of the ambulance service at the nearby Hoburne Blue Anchor holiday park, cold and shocked but otherwise uninjured.

Rescue swimmer Richard Nicholas was also checked over by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust paramedics as a potential casualty due to the extreme cold of the sea water of the Bristol Channel.

A Watchet Coastguard spokesman said: "Our thanks today go to the staff of both Hoburne Holiday Park, Blue Anchor for providing a warm environment, warm showers and towels and clothing to the casualties and our Coastguard DSO, and to the staff at the Smugglers Inn for providing hot drinks to all the responding Coastguards and Helicopter Crews on completion of the Rescue.

“If you do get stuck in mud, try and spread your weight as much as possible and call for help immediately, by calling the Coastguard on 999 or if you can’t get to your mobile, shout for help.

"Before your set out, remember to check the tide times – there are tide tables online - and leave plenty of time to get back before the tide comes in.

"This rescue incorporated many of the rescue competencies and skills that we regularly practise which includes Water Rescue, Mud Rescue, casualty care and Helicopter Operations."