Woman trapped by tide rescued in water by ferry worker

A woman cut off by the tide had to be rescued by ferry workers near a Jersey castle.

George McIlwraith, who manages the ferries which transfer visitors from the shore to Elizabeth Castle, leapt to the woman's rescue with a life belt.

He said the woman, from Poland, was unable to swim, and only her head was visible in St Aubin's bay.

Jersey Coastguard said visitors should be aware of tide times before walking to the site.

Mr McIlwraith said he was first alerted to the incident on Sunday afternoon by a radio distress call.

"The sun was sitting very low, so it was difficult to see anybody in the water," he said.

Woman 'struggling'

"At about the halfway point across, which was the deepest point, all of a sudden we just saw [her] head pop up on the left hand side of the boat."

Mr McIlwraith said the woman was "struggling" and "starting to panic" as she stood on the path which runs from the shore to the castle at low tide.

"We knew from that point if she panicked she could have stepped back or stepped forward and then she would have been submerged under the water," he said.

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He secured her with a safety belt and brought the woman on board a private boat which also responded to the distress call.

The woman was wrapped in a blanket and later taken to hospital.