AN Italian couple holidaying in Watchet were rescued in a joint coastguard and lifeboat operation after being cut off by the incoming tide. Retired coastguard Graham Coggins and his wife Diane spotted the visitors in difficulty as they motored out in their boat towards Blue Anchor last Friday evening. The couple were on the beach at the foot of cliffs at Daw's Castle on the outskirts of Watchet and appeared to be in some difficulty as it was just an hour before high tide. As the Coggins watched, the man began scaling the 150-foot high cliffs, followed initially by the woman who then changed her mind and retreated back to the beach. Mr Coggins immediately raised the alarm with the coastguards, with the local crew receiving the call- out at about 8.40pm. "We quickly realised that the woman was too frightened to climb up the cliff so decided to alert Minehead lifeboat," said Watchet coastguard Nick Tapp. "Two of the crew came ashore and actually carried her to the lifeboat, so she didn't even get her feet wet. "The man said afterwards he realised he shouldn't have climbed the cliff to the top because it is a very dangerous spot - we had a little girl killed there about ten years ago." The couple were staying at the Warren Farm campsite and were offered a lift back there after their ordeal. "But they decided to go for a drink instead to steady their nerves," said Mr Tapp. "The woman didn't speak English and at one point the man was shouting down instructions to her from the top of the cliff in Italian. "He later said that the tide here was nothing like the Mediterranean, which is more than true. But on a serious note, the advice to anyone stuck on the beach is not to attempt to climb the cliffs."