Medway is enjoying the hottest weekend of the year - but coastguard officers have warned people to play safe after a major mud rescue last night.

Four people in their 20s got stuck in the Medway estuary, just 100 yards from the shore near Whitton Marine, Vicarage Lane, Hoo.

Coastguard and fire crews, a specialist heart team and mud rescue teams from Medway, Ashford, Sheppey and Tonbridge were called at 8pm.

The Sea King 125 rescue helicopter from RAF Wattisham, pictured below, was also in attendance.

The three men and one woman were returning from a day on a small sailing boat but misjudged the tides.

Richard Rodgers, deputy station officer at Medway Coastguard, said: "One of them managed to call for help while two others were up to their waists. It was very dangerous.

"We used mud gear such as large winches and plastic stretchers to extract them to safety. It took about an hour.

"Luckily the tide was going out still so there was no urgency. We were calming them down by shouting at them telling them to keep still."

He added: "In the summer we get a lot of calls. Youngsters go into the mud and they think it's solid like their back garden. It's not and there's a real risk of being drowned.

"These people were more responsible than that, but the best thing would have been to stay on the boat."