Teenager rescued after getting trapped on cliff in South Tyneside

Sunderland Coastguard Rescue Team and South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade were sent to Target Rock, Graham Sands, South Shields, this morning following a report of a person climbing the cliffs.

On arrival, they found that Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service Line Rescue Team was already at the scene and had deployed a rope rescue technician to reach a 14 year old boy who had become stranded in a precarious position on the seaward side of the rock.

He was lowered to the foreshore and found to be fit and well before being taken home by Northumbria Police.

A Coastguard spokesman said: "This is the second incident attended in the area this Bank Holiday weekend involving individuals climbing cliffs.

"We strongly recommend that no-one puts themselves in such a dangerous situation under any circumstances. In addition, cliffs can be very unstable as has been demonstrated by recent fatal incidents around the UK Coast.

"Remember, dial 999 in all coastal emergencies and ask for the Coastguard."

Today's incident is the latest in a string of alerts along the cliffs in recent weeks and comes just days after a man died in a fall at Marsden.

Emergency services were called to the cliffs on Wednesday, August 22. Northumbria Police attended, along with the North East Ambulance Service, South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service.

A police spokesman said: "Police were called at 3.26pm by a member of the public who reported that a person had fallen from the cliffs at Marsden.

"A man has sadly died.

"Police are not treating it as suspicious."

A car, which is believed to have been stolen, went over the cliffs the next day, though no-one was hurt.

And earlier this month, a teenager fell 20ft unto rocks after the clifftop gave way beneath him.

Robbie Drew, 15, is thought to have been knocked unconscious during the fall, waking to find himself lying on rocks and his left knee shattered, on Thursday, August 2.