Safety plea from rescue teams ahead of Easter walks

Andy Brown from West Kirkby RNLI urges people to be prepared and check tide times

Rescue teams braced for a busy time over Easter are warning people to make sure they are prepared before they go hiking up mountains or by the coast.

One RNLI team on Merseyside said most of its call-outs were the result of people not being aware of tide times before they set off on a walk.

Andy Brown from West Kirkby RNLI said "8m plus tides" were expected this week and people could "get trapped very quickly".

Meanwhile, the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) said its teams across the north-west of England expected almost daily call-outs from now until the end of the summer.

The tides come in faster than you can walk, the RNLI warns

Nick Owen from the organisation said: "It can be virtually a daily experience across the region - going and recovering people who are just not prepared or have been a bit ambitious."

Research from Bangor University found that 50% of the population never looked at the tide times before they headed to the coast.

Mr Brown said many walkers were not aware that the tide comes in twice every 24 hours.

"They come in faster than you can walk so it's really important to understand how to look at a timetable and understand when you should set off and when you should come back to do that safely," he said.

Be prepared walking round the coast or up mountains, rescuers urge

He added: "Over the next week we've got a number of eight metre plus tides coming in.

"What you don't understand is the water is also coming in behind you so very quickly you can get trapped.

"If you're out there the tide coming in can be very scary especially if it's surrounding you and if you've got your family with you it must be even worse."