Porthcothan RNLI beach lifeguards save cliff fall dogs
Two dogs have been rescued after falling from cliffs in Cornwall and becoming trapped by the tide.
The dogs' owners raised the alarm on Wednesday evening after the accident at Porthcothan.
RNLI lifeguards used paddle boards to access the rocky cove and pull the dogs from the water.
They were then winched to safety by the Padstow and Newquay coastguard cliff rescue teams. Neither of the dogs were seriously injured.
'Frightened and aggressive'
The RNLI said the dogs - called Stan and Roxy - had clambered over a cliff at the south side of Golden Burns beach and fallen down the other side into the rocky cove which was cut off by the tide.
Beach lifeguard Keith Renders said: "The dogs' owners were really distressed and tearful when they alerted us and didn't think it was possible to reach the pair."
Mr Renders said the rescue was "quite challenging" because the frightened dogs were barking aggressively and kept falling off his paddle board or jumping back into the sea.
He said: "It took several attempts to get Roxy into the bag before she was winched to safety, but it was impossible to get Stan to stay in - he was really scared and just kept jumping out."
With the help of two colleagues, Mr Renders eventually swam out of the cove with the dog and climbed a small way up the cliff before putting him in a rescue bag so he could be winched up the cliff.