Dramatic rescue from sea cave

IMAGES have been released of the rescue of seven people whose dinghy overturned as they visited a cave.

Four adults, three teenagers and a dog sailed to Fingal's Cave on the uninhabited Staffa island, but got into difficulty at around 4:30pm on Wednesday.

The five passengers and two crew managed to swim to a narrow shelf at the foot of sheer 130ft cliffs but ended up stranded as the tide came in.

A Royal Navy helicopter from HMS Gannet in Prestwick arrived on the scene soon after, at around 5:10pm, to rescue them and flew the passengers to Lorne and Islands Hospital in Oban, accompanied by the dog.

The two crew were taken back to their main boat, Laurenca, from which the dinghy had set out to tour the cave, Clyde Coastguard said.

Lieutenant Commander Dave Reese said: "Although the weather in this instance was actually quite good, the other hazards involved were significant. The pilot, Lieutenant Mark Wielopolski, had to ensure he maintained a very steady hover throughout the half hour it took to winch all those stranded to safety.

"And our duty aircrewman and paramedic, Petty Officer Marcus Wigfull, had to achieve a careful balance recovering the people rapidly but safely."