A FAMILY was moments from disaster after becoming trapped in quicksand.

Gary Collier and his two daughters, Amy and Charlotte, from Bolton, were pulled from the sand of Morecambe Bay with the rising tide just minutes away.

The family had been training two Labrador dogs on the beach in Arnside along with friends when events took a turn for the worse.

Hearing the tidal siren sound just before 1.30pm on Monday, they began to make their way into shore. However, just 50 yards away from safety they ran into trouble when Charlotte fell and became caught in the quicksand.

Friend Karen Parkinson, from Blackburn, also became trapped when, together with Gary and Amy, she turned back to help pull Charlotte free.

She said: "One of the young girls stumbled and fell. Then Gary and I both fell - and because we were all together it sucked us under and got us stuck.

"The young girls started screaming and they couldn't get out and they were sinking deeper and deeper.

"I thought I was going to die.

"Somebody must have called the coastguard and they were talking to us, telling us to put our arms and legs out to spread the weight."

A coastguard mud rescue and search and rescue team was dispatched just five minutes before the tide reached them.

Gary's daughters eventually freed themselves from the sand and made it to shore.

The 12-strong rescue team managed to dig Mr Collier and Ms Parkinson out and take them ashore, moments before the bank flooded.

Ms Parkinson said: "They are doing fine now but are very traumatised.

"I have seen people calling us irresponsible on Facebook and saying there are signs in pubs and on the steps to the beach with warnings. But we didn't go into any pubs or down the steps!

"We parked in a car park at Arnside where the only sign was a warning about currents, but we weren't going for a swim, just a walk on the beach.

"When we heard the signal we started walking back to the car which was 50 yards away.

"We just couldn't believe it. It is so dangerous."

Senior coastal operations officer Adam Bradbury said the group had a lucky escape as the volunteer coast guard team was already dressed in wetsuits and at the station when they received the call.

He said: "I don't know if they would have survived had it been any other day of the week. The team was in training otherwise they would have got the call while at home or at work.

"At Arnside it is a fast tide and it was minutes away.

"The team only had minutes to spare. It was literally brute force and strength to dig them out and get them to shore. It was a very narrow window of opportunity."