A 16-year-old girl and a man were rescued from the cliff tops at Capel-le-Ferne in freezing conditions on Saturday night.

The pair had got stuck in mud while walking a dog and alerted emergency services by mobile phone just before 5pm.

The local Coastguard team and firefighters from Folkestone and Deal were called and found the pair on cliffs near the Hill Top Café on the Dover Road near Capel Court Lighthouse.

They were trapped in a mud bank near to the top of the cliff and unable to move.

At that time the air temperature was registering at just 1C and was due to drop during the evening.

Coastguards, working with the Kent Fire and Rescue line unit, got a cliff man down to the two to rope them and bring them up.

During the rescue, coastguards at the Dover Rescue Co-ordination Centre continued to talk by telephone to the girl, who was in an extremely distressed state.

She was eventually brought up cold and exhausted at around 6.15pm and handed over to paramedics before being taken to the William Harvey Hospital.

The man and dog were also safely brought to the cliff top.
Peter Legg, senior watch manager with the Marine and Coastguard Agency, said: “Working closely with our colleagues in the police and fire service, the individuals were quickly rescued.”

He warned people to be aware of being in exposed areas in very cold temperatures. “Hypothermia can disorientate the hardiest and it slows reactions and can induce violent, uncontrollable shivering,” he said.

“It causes confusion, loss of judgement and reasoning, feeling afraid, drowsiness, and slurred speech and can be very frightening.

“If you are going to take a walk along our clifftops in the coming days ensure you have enough layers on and a quick way of contacting someone if you get into difficulty.”

Do you know the people who were rescued? If so give Tricia Jamieson a call on 01233 623232 or email kentishexpress@thekmgroup.co.uk