Woman rescued from submerged car on Cumbria coast

A woman had to be rescued from a submerged car after she became stranded on a beach on the Cumbrian coast as the tide was coming in.

The woman was forced to climb on to the top of her vehicle to escape rising sea water between Mawbray and Beckfoot.

Belfast Coastguard raised the alarm at about 10:40 GMT after they were alerted via an emergency call that the woman could not swim.

She was eventually rescued by Silloth lifeboat and treated for hypothermia.

No-one was hurt in the incident.

'Very lucky'

Rescue boat crews from Silloth and Maryport were joined by officers from Cumbria Police.

An RNLI spokesman said: "On arrival, the crews could see the casualty on top of the vehicle and quickly established a safe route around it in order to rescue her.

"Some of the crew entered the water to reposition the casualty in order for the lifeboat to recover her.

"She was treated for mild hypothermia and fortunately had no other injuries.

"She was very lucky, especially with the fast incoming tide.

"If it had been much later we could have been looking at a different outcome."