Crew rescues visitors on cliff walk from Somerset beach

The crew's larger D class lifeboat - pictured here on another occasion - was used in the rescue

Two women who missed the start of a coastal path had to be rescued by lifeboat crews on a beach after being cut off by the tide.

The 20-year-olds planned to cover the first part of the South West Coast Path but instead had to be picked up from the beach west of Minehead, Somerset.

They had strayed off the path and were found on Selworthy Sands, 1,000ft (305m) below it on Thursday.

RNLI spokesman Dave Smith said they were "certainly happy to be rescued".

The pair had hoped to start the first part of the coastal path but had to be rescued from a beach

They were taken to a youth hostel nearby to spend the night before planning to restart the trail.

Mr Smith added: "The tide was still on the way in and they would have spent a very cold night on the rocks waiting for it to ebb again.

"Luckily they had one of the things we always urge people to carry when walking around here - a means of calling for help."