A local organisation has revealed that the ‘coastguard are quite often called’ to help people who get stuck in the mud at Charmouth.

This comes following reports that a person was trapped beneath the cliffs at Charmouth Beach after becoming ‘stuck waist deep’ in mud.

Phil Davidson, a palaeontologist at Charmouth Heritage Centre, said: “It happens quite often – the coastguard come out and have to rescue people most of the time.

“The wet weather can make the cliffs more unstable and prone to mud slides and landslides and the mood can be very sticky and gooey like quicksand.

“The sea will wash up lots of rocks and stones which can disguise the extremity of the mud slides and people will sink right down.”

Mr Davidson has offered some further advice on how to avoid ending up in a similar situation.

He suggests that people should check tides 'before they go out,’ and ‘stay away from the base of the cliff.’

Coastguards and firefighters were called to Charmouth Beach on Saturday, January 6, after the person got stuck in the mud under the cliffs.

Their father had made frantic attempts to rescue them and alerted emergency services who came to dig them out.

The cliffs around Charmouth, a popular spot for fossil hunters on the Jurassic Coast, are very unstable and treacherous mudflows and landslides are common.

Recent heavy rain will undoubtedly have made the coastline more unstable.

The person who was rescued was said to have been trapped for more than 15 minutes.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue sent crews from Lyme Regis and Axminster as well as a specialist rescue team from Weymouth Fire Station after getting a call at 2.40pm to say someone was trapped waist deep in mud.

Coastguard teams were also on the scene.

A spokesperson for Axminster Fire Station said: "Our crews made their way on foot across the beach to locate the casualty approximately 500 yards from the car park.

"The casualty had been trapped in Blue Lias Clay for around 15/20 minutes prior to our crew's arrival and their dad had been trying to free them to no avail.

"Our crews quickly got to work in committing firefighters to the ledge and setting up a safe working platform to extricate the trapped person.

"Crews utilised a triple extension ladder to set up a safe platform to distribute weight across the Lias.

"Crews then used spades to dig the casualty out and with a bit of persuasion were safely able to remove the person from the mud.

"Crews then walked the person down from the cliff ledge along with their Dad and left them on safe ground."

Another spokesperson for Charmouth Heritage Centre said: “The wet weather and storms recently have been great for churning up the beach and hopefully revealing plenty of fossils but remember to stay safe.

"It's looking very muddy out on the beach so please be wary of getting stuck and avoid those cliffs.”