St Bee's Head: Teenagers rescued from cliffs after thunderstorm

The Workington lifeboat towing its inflatable life raft during the incident

Two boys had to be rescued by coastguards after becoming stranded beneath cliffs during a thunderstorm.

The 14-year-olds, who had been fishing at St Bees Head, became stuck after rain made the rocks on their return route slippery at around 19.30 BST.

Coastguard teams from Whitehaven and Maryport were sent to help, as well as RNLI crews from Workington and St Bees.

A lifeboat crew managed to reach the boys at the bottom of the cliffs and take them to safety.

Initially rescuers were going to try to pull the boys up the cliff using ropes.

However, as Sunday evening wore on and the weather improved, the Workington lifeboat crew was able to get close to the bottom of the cliffs and deploy a small, inflatable boat to reach the teenagers.

Rescuers said the stranded teenagers did the right thing by calling for help

The boys were eventually re-united with their parents at around 21.45 BST.

A spokesman for Whitehaven Coastguard Rescue Team said: "Due to the heavy and sudden downpour, their planned route back out had become very slippery and unsafe, so they called 999 for the coastguard and sheltered safely until our arrival.

"We would like to stress that these youths, having realised the predicament they were in, did exactly the right thing and stopped and called 999 for the coastguard immediately, preventing any worsening of their situation and risk of injury."