THE Coastguard at Minehead and Watchet have been praised as heroes after they rescued a walker with a fractured hip then went on to help another injured woman the next day.

And they also cordoned off a beach and guarded it in driving rain and wind, when suspicious objects were found there.

The first incident happened on Tuesday, January 22, on a woodland track near Hopcott Common, Minehead, when a 77-year-old walker fell and was unable to move, with what turned out to be a fractured hip.

“It was hailing and very cold, and we were requested to assist by the ambulance service, which was facing high demand, as we were less than a kilometre away,” said Coastguard rescue officer Simon Bale.

A casualty-care trained team went to the scene, where local dog walkers had called for help after they found the woman, who was out walking with her husband, had fallen and was unable to move.

“We were concerned about her temperature and the risks of hypothermia, and during the evacuation our Coastguards had to shelter her from a passing hail storm,” said Simon.

The next afternoon, Watchet Coastguard, which works together with the Minehead team, was asked by the ambulance service to help with a medical emergency for the second day in a row, after a woman fell and suffered a leg and hip injury, on The Esplanade at Watchet.

The team stretchered her to its station, which was just metres away, to get her out of the cold and wet, before the ambulance service transported her to hospital.

“The ambulance service is so busy, unfortunately jobs queue up, but we evacuated the lady on their behalf,” Simon said.

A few days later, last Saturday, the coastguard was tasked to go to Kilve beach after walkers reported two suspicious items, later identified as military solid shot, on the low water mark.

The teams located the items as well as a third, and a Royal Navy dive clearance team advised placing a safety cordon around, as well as to position themselves on nearby clifftops and at Lilstock Beach end, to keep watch and ensure public safety.

The teams waited in heavy rain and winds for several hours before the Royal Navy arrived and removed the objects for destruction back at their base in Plymouth.