Essex Fire Service rescues pair from car trapped in mud

Essex Fire and Rescue Service said it had difficulty locating the woman and her daughter stuck in their car

A woman and her daughter have been rescued after their car got trapped in deep mud.

Essex Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to Murrels Lane, Hullbridge near Southend on Tuesday.

The woman had driven down a narrow track and got stuck in mud which was so deep that she could not open her door.

The service said it took crews almost 30 minutes to find her because she was not able to accurately describe her location.

"The incident highlights the importance of being really aware of your surroundings when you are driving somewhere you don't know very well," said crew manager Adam Paterson.

"When we arrived, the access was so narrow and the ground was so unstable that we weren't able to get an appliance close enough.

"Thankfully the occupants were OK. The crew were brilliant; they worked really hard to dig the car out and gave it a quick clean so it was in a driveable condition."

The service recommended people downloaded the smartphone search app What3Words (W3W), which helps emergency services pinpoint locations.

W3W divides the world into squares measuring three by three metres (10ft by 10ft), and assigns each square a different three-word address.

The free app is used by most UK emergency services, but there has been criticism that it is not 100% efficient, with likely reasons being given as pronunciation or spelling errors.

The woman and her daughter were rescued from a muddy part of Murrels Lane, near Hockley, Essex