A MUM has called for more warning signs after she frantically tried to pull her sinking son out of waist-deep mud on Charmouth beach.

Schoolboy Callum Currie, 10, was visiting Charmouth Beach with his family when he became stuck in mud that was caused by a landslide.

A team of eight coastguards worked for half an hour to pull the youngster to safety using water and air.

Paramedics, police officers and firefighters were also called to the incident, in an afternoon of drama that also included the search for a missing girl and the rescue of a dog that had fallen over a cliff.

Callum’s mum Amanda Currie said there should have been more signs on the beach warning people to stay away from the danger area.

She said: “There aren’t enough warning signs for people. There were two signs missing that had been there before.

“I asked the coastguard why there isn’t a sign at the beginning of the beach warning people about thick mud.

“If it had been a smaller child in there it could have gone up to their neck.”

Coastguards placed new signs at the same spot on Charmouth Beach last April after several rescues from heavy mudflows.

A coastguard spokesman said there are signs on the landslip itself. He added: “The coastguard strongly advises all members of the public to stay well away from the mud and heed the warning signs.

“The location of the casualty, weather conditions and the state of the tide made this rescue relatively straightforward.

“However, under different circumstances being trapped in this quicksand could be extremely dangerous to all concerned.”

Mrs Currie and her partner Andrew Bowkett were out with Callum looking for fossils when a woman alerted them that he was stuck up to his waist.

She said: “My worst fear was that he was going to sink further.”

A woman raised the alarm at the beachside café and the Lyme Regis Coastguard Rescue Team was called.

One crew from Devon Fire and Rescue, two from Dorset and a fire service Land Rover were sent to the scene.

Mrs Currie, 43, said: “The coastguards used body-stretchers to reach Callum and a pool of water in the mud which was attached to a cylinder.”

Mrs Currie, of Sidmouth, Devon, said Callum was recovering well.

She said: “There was a brief moment when he panicked but he remained calm despite being in the mud for an hour.

“He was caked in mud and very cold when he came out.”

Anyone who is trapped in mud is advised not to move around too much, as this can result in further suction, spread your weight, remain calm and call 999 and ask for the coastguard.