Stuck sir? I can help . . but who'll dig me out?

IT is implausible enough for one car to get stuck on a beach against a rapidly rising tide.

But residents in Portobello were astounded when a recovery lorry found itself stuck in the sand – just moments after helping a stranded motorist to safety.

The drama was played out on Portobello beach last night after two Eastern European workmen were caught in the sand after taking a wrong turn off Joppa Road.

After realising their mistake, the driver tried to reverse the car on the beach and drive back up the slipway, but quickly found their tyres had been engulfed in the sand.

Police were called at around 4pm, by which time the tide had risen to the wheels of the vehicle. A recovery crew was called, but when mechanic David Blues arrived with a hydraulic winch and rescued the car, his lorry also became stuck.

Mr Blues, who runs the Baileyfield Garage in Portobello, had to spend an hour hoisting his vehicle to safety after rescuing the Eastern Europeans. He said: "At first I tried to use a 4x4 to pull them out but the car just wasn't shifting so I had to drive the lorry down and use the winch instead.

"I have no idea what they were doing down there in the first place, but there was no chance they would have got out without help.

"The annoying thing is that once I'd got them out and they paid me, I was left to try to free my own lorry out of the sand while they were able to go. It's taken an extra hour's work just to get my vehicle on the road."

After trying unsuccessfully to pull his lorry back up the slipway using his 4x4, Mr Blues eventually had to feed a cable through the promenade wall and hoist the vehicle free – bursting one of the rear tyres in the process.

By the time he finally freed the lorry, a small crowd had gathered to watch.

Edward Roberts, an office worker who was cycling back to his home in Musselburgh, said: "You don't see many cars stuck on the beach so to have two on the same day is unbelievable."

Another passer-by added:

"The tides rise very fast and they were lucky that they got stuck so close to the promenade, otherwise they would have either been swept out to sea or would have had their car wrecked by the water. It's even more ridiculous that the breakdown lorry got stuck as well., but it just shows how risky it is to drive on to the sand."

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "We were alerted to an incident at around 4pm on Friday, where a car became stuck on Portobello beach as it tried to reverse.

"Officers attended the scene until a recovery vehicle was called to pull them to safety."