'Stupid' drivers slammed after another vehicle gets stuck near Holy Island

The driver had to be rescued by a farmer with a tractor after driving off the road on the causeway and becoming stuck in the soft sand on Wednesday.

Signs nearby warn drivers not to go off-road as well as urging people to abide by the crossing times so not to get caught by the high tide, which cuts the island off from the mainland.

Cllr Colin Hardy, who represents the Norham and Islandshires ward on Northumberland County Council, said: “I started my working life at Beal Garage in 1965 as a mechanic. One of my first regular jobs was to pull people out of the sand.

“Nothing has changed from 1964 – people are still stupid. They still drive on the soft sand. The only thing that has changed is the tractor has got bigger!

“There is signage up saying no off-road drivers. It’s common sense.”

Cllr Hardy said both the police and the coastguard attended the scene, causing a cost to the taxpayer. Worse still, the incident took place just before the high tide rolled in.

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said: “Just after 1pm on Wednesday, police received a report that a car was stuck in the sand on the causeway of Holy Island in Northumberland.

“Police and partners attended, and the car was removed from the causeway a short time after.”

A spokeswoman for the Coastguard added: “Holy Island Coastguard Rescue Team and Northumbria Police were sent to a report of a car reported stuck in the sand next to the Holy Island causeway at approx. 1.10pm on August 16. A local farmer was able to tow the vehicle free.”

Cllr Hardy continued: “You can’t stop silly people driving into the North Sea. The cost of somebody having a little bit of fun and having no common sense is borne by the taxpayer – that is the problem.

“No matter what we do, you can’t drive people’s cars for them. Despite our best efforts, people still do silly things regardless of the consequences, regardless of their own safety and regardless of the safety of those people who have to respond.

“On this occasion, they were very lucky as the tide was on the way in. It was probably quarter of an hour away. They could have been rather soggy very quickly.”

Both Northumbria Police and the Coastguard have confirmed they were involved in the rescue.

At the start of the month, the Coastguard and the RNLI issued a warning to visitors not to take risks with the tide following a series of incidents throughout the year.

Two people were rescued from the causeway’s refuge box by the RNLI in June, while In May, a further four people were rescued by the Coastguard after becoming stranded ‘waist deep’ on the causeway. In January, two people and a dog had to be rescued after being cut off by the tide.