Moment family of four including two schoolboys are rescued after being cut off by a rising tide

This is the moment a family of four and their pet spaniel were dramatically rescued after getting stranded in a rising tide beneath cliffs in North Yorkshire. 

The group, which included two boys aged nine and 11, had been out for a family walk between Staithes and Skinningrove along the coast when they realised they’d been cut off by rising water.

The spot where  a family of four including two schoolboys, nine and 11, were rescued after being cut off by a rising tide beneath cliffs in North Yorkshire

Shortly after raising the alarm on Thursday afternoon, they were rescued when the Staithes and Runswick branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) came to their aid at the Boulby cliffs.

In a statement, the Staithes and Runswick RNLI said that one volunteer had swam ashore to ensure the family, from Birmingham, stayed above the rising tide.

It added: ‘Two more crew members swam separately ashore with dry suits and lifebelts, and attaching each member of the family to a safety line, escorted them in turn through the rocks and choppy sea back to the lifeboat, finally rescuing the pet spaniel.’

A spokesman said that car-sized rocks along the shoreline under Boulby make for tricky conditions and big waves.