It was a fight against time as emergency services battled to rescue a teenage girl from the mud.

Initial reports directed fire, ambulance and police to Castle Hill, Rochester in the early hours of Tuesday.

However further investigations established the incident was on the other side of the river, and emergency services were redirected to Morrison’s, Knight Road, Strood shortly after 2am.

Kent air ambulance were also drafted in to help in the rescue operation.

The 999 response came after a girl aged 17, fell 10 feet from a ledge onto rocky marsh land by the waterside behind the Morrison’s supermarket.

The girl had contacted her boyfriend who went to her aid. However in his haste he crashed the car as he approached the supermarket. No one was injured in this accident.

When fire fighters arrived ambulance crews and police officers were already on the mud trying to rescue the teenager.

However restricted access meant the fire engines couldn’t get closs to the scene and the crew was forced to carry their equipment 400 meters from the car park.

With the tide coming in fast rescuers were forced to hoist the girl by hand to safety. She was carried back to the ambulance and taken to Medway Maritime hospital for treatment. Her injuries were not considered to be serious.

Fire fighter Drew Harris said: “It was a real race against time. The tide was coming in unbelievably fast.

“After we had lifted the girl to safety it was a matter of minutes before the tide had completely covered the area that the girl had fallen onto. She was very lucky.”