Ice cream van rescued after being swept out to sea
Attempts were made to rescue the van before it was swept out to sea
- Published
Coastguard teams rescued an ice cream van that had been swept out to sea.
Padstow coastguard rescue team and RNLI lifeguards were sent to Harlyn Bay near Padstow, Cornwall at about 17:00 BST on Sunday after it was caught by the tide.
The driver was found safe and well and not in the vehicle, the coastguard confirmed.
The van was recovered at about 21:45.
Catherine Smith, 22, had been on the beach when she saw a "small crowd gathering" near the cliff edge.
She said: "I walked over to see what was going on.
"When I arrived the ice cream van already appeared stuck in shallow water, however, the tide was coming in at quite a pace.
"Many people tried to help by trying to pull the vehicle back to shore, and another car drove on to the beach to try to tow it out.
"But with the tide coming in so quickly the sea was soon up to the windows of the van and it was clear it wasn’t going anywhere."
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