BURNHAM-on-Sea's Coastguard came to the rescue of a woman after she hurt her ankle on the beach. 

The woman and her husband were looking around Burnham Lighthouse when they went the wrong way and had to cross some shallow, exposed mud. 

As the woman took a step her foot got trapped in the mud and knocked her off balance causing her ankle to twist round. 

The woman's husband helped her back to her feet and the pair went back to hard ground. 

A resident saw the couple and called the Coastguard at 11am today (March 14) and asked for help as the woman was in pain and was limping. 

A spokesman for Burnham Coastguard, said: "When we caught up with them they were near the pier, after a quick assessment of the injury we decided to request an ambulance.

"Once we had permission from our ops room we helped the lady into our coastguard vehicle and took her to a more accessible location for transferring.

"The ambulance arrived in good time and we handed her over to their care.

"A big thank you to the persons who called it in, they were definitely in need of assistance.

"The couple did say how grateful they were to them, and that they didn't know about the Coastguards so didn't call for help."

If you are ever in difficulty along the coast, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.