Marsden Grotto sea rescue, South Shields, South Tyneside

 Top two photographs: Police arrive on the scene and speak to the stranded man. They ascertain exactly who is stranded: two people and two dogs.

Nine police officers attended the scene on the beach, plus a police helicopter, four coastguards and four paramedics. There were other members of the emergency services up on the hilltop, taking the number of people involved in the rescue to at least over 20.

The couple were rescued by an RNLI lifeboat.

Both form Jarrow, they were Michelle Ellison and Thomas Smith. The dogs are called Spot and Alfie.

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And this is the moment (below) when the intrepid Tom Cook attempted to rescue the stranded victims. When he saw half a dozen police officers marching down the beach he immediately began climbing down shouting: "I was only messing around." He thought the police had come to arrest him. The two kids also thought they were in trouble.