Teenagers cling to buoy in strong currents

Coastguards from Dawlish and south Devon had been training nearby and raised the alarm

Two teenagers were left clinging to a buoy and calling for help after they got caught in strong currents in Devon, say rescuers.

They were among six teenagers who got stuck on the Exe Estuary at about 17:00 BST on Sunday.

They had all tried to swim from Mamhead Slipway to Dawlish Warren when they got into trouble, said Exmouth RNLI.

"Two were unable to make it across and clinging to a buoy in the river, with the remaining four making it to Pole Sands, where they were then stuck by the rising tide," said the crew.

An RNLI Exmouth crew rescued the teenagers

The Exmouth lifeboat pulled the first two casualties from the water before retrieving the remaining four teenagers from Pole Sands and brought them back to a slipway.

Coastguards from Dawlish and south Devon had been training nearby and, along with two off-duty RNLI crew, they raised the alarm.

Exmouth RNLI said: "Their close proximity to the location of the incident no doubt helped with the very fast response time of our lifeboat.

"The River Exe has very strong and potentially dangerous currents and is also a very busy boating channel.

"Attempting to swim across it at any time is dangerous. But trying to do so during a period of such strong tidal flow was very dangerous indeed and could easily have ended in a tragic outcome.

"It was lucky that our volunteers were already on the river and that two off-duty Exmouth RNLI crew were also in the vicinity."