COASTGUARDS have issued further warnings to stay away from dangerous coastal mudslides after another child became trapped.

A 12-year-old boy was rescued after getting stuck in thick mud just east of Charmouth following the continuing series of landslides.

Holidaymaker Elliott Parsons was fossil hunting on the beach when he ventured onto the landslip and became trapped up to his waist.

Coastguards have this week sent out a renewed plea to the public to stay away from the cliffs and rock falls, which are increasingly dangerous following heavy rain and snow.

It comes just three weeks after brother and sister Justin and Chloe-Anne Mair, from Wellington, Taunton, were trapped in the same area and their parents and passers-by battled to free them before they sunk deeper in the debris.

By the time coastguards had freed them they had lost feeling in their legs due to the cold.

Elliott, on holiday from Rugby, Warwickshire, was looking for fossils with his family on Sunday when he became trapped at the bottom of the landslip, around 150 metres from the river to the east of Charmouth. Lyme Regis Coastguard Rescue Team were called to the incident at 1.11pm.

Station officer Graham Turner said: “A young lad, who was on holiday for a week, was walking with his parents along the beach. He went about eight metres up the slip and got into some of the really sludgy, muddy stuff.”

Elliott’s father had already tried to rescue him and had then tried to help by laying a path of rocks and sticks.

Deputy station officer Gerry Bearpark said: “The father went to try and rescue him and he got stuck, but he got himself out and waited – sensibly – for the coastguard to turn up.”

The rescuers have praised the parents for taking the right action. Mr Turner said: “His parents were very good – they didn’t go crazy and get stuck themselves.

“They told him not to wriggle around, to lean forward to spread the weight and his mother called 999. This is exactly what should happen and we would like to praise them for their actions. We got there and we had him out in 15 minutes.”

The team used specialist mud rescue equipment to free Elliott, who was uninjured but cold.

“He was just embarrassed and a bit cold,” said Mr Turner. “It wouldn’t have done for him to be there for another 30 minutes because the mud was freezing.

“He had probably been in there for 30 minutes anyway and it could have caused hypothermia.”

Coastguards have warned walkers and fossil hunters to keep away from the cliffs and mudslides, especially those with children or dogs.

Mr Turner said: “The area was the worst I have seen it on Sunday. It had been raining and literally the whole thing is dangerous.”

Mr Bearpark added: “There is a lot of movement because of the subsidence and a lot of mud is being washed down. It’s a horrible mess.

“If you look in the gravel on the beach you will find fossils – there is no need to be going up on the mud. People don’t realise how deep the mud is and before they know it, they’re in it up to their waists.”

The parents of Justin and Chloe-Anne Mair called for more warning signs to prevent further incidents.

However, coastguards said there were signs but that they had been ignored.