AT LEAST three people are lucky to be alive after being swept away by the raging waters of the River Brit.

One young man had an incredibly lucky escape after he was swept through the sluice gate at West Bay and into the harbour.

He and a companion had been kayaking in the appalling conditions and alerted by shouts from the West Bay harbourmaster, one of the men reached the bank, but the other was tossed into the water.

“He went through the sluice gate, and shot straight across the harbour and just managed to grab a rope and pull himself out before being washed out to sea.

“It was amazing that he had no injuries,” said West Bay Coastguard station officer Mark Collins.

“The young man was given ‘plenty of safety advice’ by coastguards.

Two teenage girls also escaped with their lives after they were helped to safety by members of the public after being swept into the river near Palmers Brewery.

Coastguards, the coastguard rescue helicopter and other emergency services were called, but the young women had made it to dry land thanks to the efforts of local people.

The helicopter was also called to help a man suffering from chest pains at West Bexington, after an ambulance crew had been unable to reach him.

A man trapped in his wheelchair in floodwater at a caravan park near Burton Bradstock was helped to a waiting ambulance by the West Bay coastguards.

The 10-metre charter boat Tina 1 was overwhelmed by the force of the water gushing into West Bay harbour and sank on its moorings.

Members of the Lyme Bay National Coastwatch Institution team were on standby at Litton Cheney and West Bexington and monitored the hundreds of radio messages between emergency services.

l Local retained fire crews who were responding to emergency calls for some 36 hours over the weekend have paid tribute to the community in Bridport for their support.

Station commander at Bridport Fire Station Nigel Challis said: “The service has received over 200 calls this weekend to flooding related incidents. In the Bridport area, we have dealt with over 35 incidents in the 48 hours.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the local people and traders in Bridport for all their support over the weekend. I can’t remember a weekend as busy as this one since the 1970s.

“We have rescued people from their cars, been called to flooding in properties and dealt with many other incidents in the west. of the county.

“This has been one of the worst weekends, in July, for flooding that anyone can remember.

“There is more rain on the way so we continue to advise the public to be careful.”

Firefighters also rescued people from their car, including an elderly couple aged 78 and 80 at Burton Bradstock late on Saturday afternoon.