A PREGNANT woman who was stranded in almost waist-high water was among numerous people rescued by the RNLI and coastguards during recent days.

The volunteer lifeboat crew had five call-outs in six days, while coastguards assisted with three incidents.

Minehead RNLI volunteers found themselves on the receiving end of rapturous applause when they successfully rescued a four months pregnant woman, her husband and two dogs from a rapidly rising tide.

The pair, who are both regular walkers along the West Somerset coast, found themselves stranded by the incoming tide at Helwell Bay, Watchet, on Saturday evening.

The couple called the emergency services for help and the lifeboat was launched at 9.15pm with helmsman Paul Arnold in command.

The crew quickly found the woman holding one of the pet dogs above the water and pulled both her, her husband and the dogs to safety onboard the lifeboat.

Despite the fading light a crowd of onlookers had gathered to watch above Helwell Bay and cheered the crew as the pair and their pets were rescued.

An RNLI spokesman said: "Once aboard, the lady joked that only earlier that morning she had put a donation into an RNLI collecting box, to which her husband replied she would need to put more in next time!"

Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, the lifeboat was called out to tow a 20ft speedboat with engine failure back to the safety of Minehead Harbour.

The vessel had broken down two miles from Hurlestone Point and the crew issued a mayday call for help.

Then on both Monday and Wednesday the crew was called out to separate false alarms.

On Monday afternoon a member of the public reported seeing a kite surfer in difficulty in Minehead Bay, but the surfer managed to make his way ashore without the help of the RNLI.

Reports of a small inflatable floating out to sea on Wednesday afternoon resulted in an extensive but fruitless search, with no sign of the craft and no reports of missing people.

The coastguard helped police deal with a live World War Two artillery shell on Wednesday.

The device had been picked up by a walker on the beach towards Lilstock and left closer to Kilve.

A bomb disposal squad was called in to detonate the shell and coastguards issued a warning to people not to touch any suspicious-looking items on local beaches.

They also called on people to be aware of how quickly the tide can turn after being called out to help a group of people who had become stranded on the beach between East Quantoxhead and Kilve on Tuesday.

The group managed to scramble to safety before their would-be rescuers arrived.