RNLI lifeguards out training in Whitsand Bay at the weekend found themselves rescuing eight dogs and two people cut off by the tide.

Chris Wafer and Dan Church noticed a couple holding four of the dogs in the air, while the other four were paddling around them in the rising water.

It was at lunchtime on Saturday that the two lifeguards set off for a training session onboard the inshore rescue boat.

Chris said: 'We were stopped in the water and talking about the importance of studying the coastline for fishermen on the rocks and people cut off by the tide. That's when Dan pointed to the couple holding the four dogs in the air and suggested there might be something wrong.'

The man and woman had gone for a walk with their eight dogs at low tide but when they turned to come back the water had started to come in and they were wading chest deep, holding four of the dogs in the air while the other four paddled. The lifeguards saved the pair and the dogs by making two trips back to Sharrow Beach. Later lifeguards assisted a further 14 people who had been cut off.