Four cockle-pickers have been rescued by lifeboatmen after becoming stranded on the sands at Morecambe Bay in northwest England where 20 Chinese workers drowned earlier this year.
The four men were collecting cockles off Hest Bank when they were caught by rising tides. They made a 999 call and a rescue was launched involving an RNLI lifeboat and hovercraft, along with Coastguard search teams.
The men were picked up by the hovercraft and taken to safety. They were not injured.
A spokesman for HM Coastguard in Liverpool, which co-ordinated the search, said: "The men were picked up by the RNLI Morecambe hovercraft and taken to safety."
Hest Bank was the scene of tragedy in February when a group of Chinese cocklers became stranded and 20 of them died.
The Coastguard spokesman said: "Since the disaster in February we have received many calls from members of the public who think people are in trouble when they are not. "But on this occasion the men were in difficulty and they called for help themselves."
The men came from Southport, Merseyside, and were said to be white British citizens.