By Lisa Ramsden
Two teenage girls were at the centre of a rescue operation off the Minerstown coastline on Sunday.
The pair, along with a pet dog, were blown out to sea in an inflatable dinghy.
They were around half a mile offshore when they were rescued.
RNLI lifeguards, who had been patrolling Tyrella Beach at the time, worked alongside members of Newcastle Lifeboat Station and Newcastle Coastguard during the incident.
The alarm was raised at around 4pm, with the teenagers subsequently located by the lifeboat crew and brought back to shore.
Fortunately, they were not injured during the incident.
However, the call-out has highlighted the dangers that inflatables can pose.
Both the Coastguard and RNLI have reminded the public that inflatables should only be used in swimming pools.
The weekend’s incident was the second to occur within a number of days.
Late last Tuesday evening, a land and sea search was launched off Newcastle after a child’s inflatable was washed out to sea.
On that occasion, no one had been using it.
Read the full story in the current issue.
