A father has spoken out in praise for rescuers, who helped his injured son off the beach in a race against the tide.

Trevor Park initially took to Facebook to thank the Whitehaven Coastguard team who came to help when the youth dislocated his knee in St Bees.

Mr Park said: "I got a phone call from my daughter to say my son had dislocated his knee again - which he had done about two months previously - and she said he was in a lot of pain and could not stand.

"I rushed to the scene where I found him lying on the sand near the tide line."

With the help of his daughter, they managed to get the youth to his feet and tried to get him to put weight on his leg.

"We got his arms around our shoulders and tried to slowly walk him in," Mr Park, of Whitehaven, continued, "but I noticed the tide was gaining on us at the speed we were going.

"I made the decision to contact the coastguard for assistance as we could not do this alone - plus the pain was getting worse."

Within 10 to 15 minutes the first Coastguard rescue team member arrived, and helped move the boy over a tidal channel - which was set to fill up rapidly with the tide.

He then assessed the casualty and radioed for stretcher help, which arrived after another five to 10 minutes.

The youth was then transferred via a stretcher to the bottom of the St Bees shop steps, and wrapped in a survival bag to keep warm.

Mr Park said: "When the ambulance service arrived they had a complete handover from the coastguards who then assessed my son and administered pain relief.

"All the coastguard team helped put my son to the ambulance with the paramedics and even escorted him to hospital in the back.

"I couldn't thank the coastguard enough for all their help. The jobs these volunteers do and the ambulance service is second to none. All the emergency services, from mountain rescue to the police force, are taken for granted.

"Their professionalism and communication in our case was second to none."

He added: "To be honest, if I hadn't called the coastguard I think we would have had to call the lifeboat, because we definitely wouldn't have got him off the beach in time as he was in so much pain."

Ellis spent three hours in hospital before being sent home in a splint.