RNLI officials in Minehead have warned holidaymakers about the risks of becoming trapped by the tide after the station’s volunteer crew rescued a 12-year-old boy yesterday.

He was walking along the foot of 800ft sea cliffs between Minehead and Hurlestone Point when he became separated from the other members of his family.

Despite poor mobile phone reception in the area, his mother managed to raise the alarm and a full-scale search was started.

Minehead’s Atlantic 85 lifeboat was launched and within minutes managed to locate the boy, marooned on rocks in a small cove about a mile and a half west of the station.

Crew member Matt Legg swam ashore, fitted him with a lifejacket and swam him back out to the boat. The boy was landed at Minehead and reunited with his family.

Minehead RNLI operations manager Dr John Higgie said the family had chosen one of the most inaccessible stretches of the coastline for their walk.

“There are only rocks and boulders all the way along there when the tide is in – in places the sea comes in right up to the base of the cliffs – and there are very few locations along the whole three-mile length where it is even possible to climb up to safety,” he said.

“A lifeboat was the only option this boy had of getting out of his predicament.

“Nearly every year we rescue people who try to walk along there without being aware of how high and how quickly the tide comes in and then suddenly find themselves trapped.

“Two years ago we even organised our own poster campaign to make people aware of how the Bristol Channel’s huge tidal range can catch them out.

“But all we can really do is to urge anyone contemplating a walk beneath the cliffs to check the tide times before they set out so they know they will be able to either complete the journey or get back safely if they have to retreat.”