TWO women and their dog were rescued from the bottom of cliffs after they were cut off by a high tide.

Volunteers from Dunbar’s RNLI were called out along with Coastguard colleagues from Eyemouth, Berwick and Dunbar.

The two dogwalkers had raised the alarm after becoming stuck on steep ground at Bilsdean, south-east of Torness Power Station.

With the rising tide and very strong winds hindering their ability to make it safely back to dry land, they called for help. 

A spokesman for Dunbar RNLI said: “We have a lot of beautiful and dramatic coastline along the south east coast which is a joy to explore most of the time.

“However, Saturday’s incident highlights that, even when prepared with tide times and knowledge of the area, many external factors can have an impact upon your safety.

“The strong winds today provide a prime example of this as, in effect, the wind pinned the casualties to their somewhat precarious location while the tide quickly rose around them.

“Thankfully they were able to recognise their limits and called the Coastguard for help: two factors that greatly added to the happy outcome to today’s call out.”

UK Coastguard requested the assistance of both Dunbar’s inshore (ILB) and all-weather (ALB) lifeboats at 2.45pm last Saturday.

Against a strong northerly wind, the ILB made the eight-mile journey through very rough conditions, joining the ALB at Torness.

Both boats travelled south to Bilsdean and, after a short shoreline search by the ILB, the casualties along with a Staffordshire Terrier were spotted and the crew began planning the safest route for recovery. The RNLI spokesman added: “The ILB helm skilfully dropped two of his crew ashore to assess and reassure the casualties.

“With both casualties and their dog being unharmed and able bodied they made a short traverse of the shore to a safe and more sheltered spot to recover onto the ILB.

“Grateful to be out of immediate danger, the casualties were transferred to the awaiting ALB and transported to Dunbar Harbour where they met with Coastguard teams from Dunbar, Eyemouth and Berwick for further checks to their health and well-being.”