Mum and child rescued in Langstone Harbour mudbank drama

They were with two other adult on an evening kayaking trip in Langstone Harbour which suddenly went wrong.

Lifeboatmen used their kayak as a sled to haul them to safety after the alert was sounded at around 9pm last night.

RNLI spokesman Aaron Gent said: ‘A party of four had been out kayaking in the harbour when they were caught out by the tide.

‘A mother and child aged around nine were in one kayak, her brother was in another and a friend was in a third.

‘The sea receded and left them on a mudbank unable to move. It was quite late and the child was getting cold. It must have been quite distressing for them.

‘The woman’s brother managed to wade ashore - quite a task because the mud is very sticky - and walked into the lifeboat station.

‘Thankfully Wednesday night is a training night, so we had staff there. They walked out and could see the people on the mudbank through binoculars.

‘We launched our D-Class vessel but couldn’t get close to them, so two of the lads quickly put their dry suits back on and waded out.

‘They made sure that everyone was okay and then decided the easiest way to rescue them was to drag them in the kayaks over the mud.

‘The friend got out to help, and the mother and daughter stayed in their kayak until we got them to safety.

‘They were relieved and thankfully okay.’

After the rescue, the mum told lifeboatmen in a Facebook message: ‘Thank you so much for helping us tonight with our kayaks. You did a fab job and got to us quickly. Much appreciated.’