FOUR students were winched from a cliff face by a coastguard helicopter after they were cut off by the tide near Clarach last night.

Coastguard rescue teams, together with RNLI inshore lifeboats from Aberystwyth and Borth, responded when an emergency call was made at around 7.45pm on Wednesday, 10 February.

The call came from four people, understood to be three male and one female students from Aberystwyth University, who had become stuck approximately three-quarters of the way up a cliff face between Clarach and Wallog after trying to escape the incoming spring tides.

Arriving on-scene first were volunteer RNLI lifeboat crews, who shone floodlights on the stranded students, all between the ages of 18 and 20, so the coastguard teams on shore could see their position.

After coastguard teams set up rope systems to enable them to safely get close to the cliff edge, it was decided the services of coastguard rescue helicopter 936 were required because a manual rescue would be too risky.

The helicopter’s crew winched two people at a time from the cliff face into a field away from the edge, and it was decided none of the casualties required further medical attention before all services were stood down at around 9pm.

HM Coastguard’s senior coastal operations officer, Lee Crumpler had some sage advice for anyone thinking of walking along the coastline.

He said: “The people who were rescued walked over from Aberystwyth and when the tide started coming in, they tried climbing the cliffs to get away from the sea.

“If you are planning on walking along the coastline, always check tides and plan ahead. Also very important is to wear the correct equipment to suit conditions, and if you do get in trouble, always call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.”