FACE with being stranded for six hours on an ebbing tide, the crew of a speedboat arriving in Watchet’s outer harbour called out the Coastguard on Tuesday when their boat ended up high and dry on the mud.

Coastguards with special footwear were able to walk across four-metre-deep mud with a rescue sledge and winch the two crew back to the safety of the slipway.

A Coastguard spokesman said: “The occupants of the boat were safe and well and in no immediate danger. However, having just become stranded and with a minimum of six hours to wait, they requested help to get back to shore.”

Two mud rescue technicians wearing special “mudders” attached to their boots, were able to walk across the mud by spreading their weight across the surface.

The spokesman said: “Once aboard the rescue sledge, the crew was transferred to the slipway and the boat was anchored and secured ready for the returning tide later in the afternoon.”

He added: “The crew did exactly the right thing not to get out of the boat and wade ashore through the harbour mud which at that point is several metres deep, and instead asked for assistance from the Coastguard.”

Mud in Watchet outer harbour is now up to six metres deep and has not been dredged by its owners, Somerset West and Taunton Council, for three years.