Tide victims tell of holiday car nightmare

It was meant to be the perfect start to their spring family holiday - a couple of hours jet-skiing in the sea.

But the Downtons got more than they bargained for when their car became engulfed by the roaring tide.

Today they were back home and told the Express & Star of their ordeal, which made headlines across the country. And while they said it had been an unbelievable experience, they were overwhelmed by the "good samaritans" who helped them.

Grandmother Mavis Downton, of Kent Close, Walsall, was on her way to Pontins in Brean, Somerset, with son Kevin, aged 46, of Bloxwich, granddaughter Anne-Marie, 24 and 14-year-old grandson Shane, both of Cannock.

They stopped off at Burnham-on-Sea and Kevin, who works for a removal company in Wolverhampton, and Shane took the jet-ski out for a ride on the waves.

But as they prepared to leave after a couple of hours' fun, their Ford Mondeo, which they had to drive onto the sand to pack up the jet-ski, began sinking as the tide came in.

Seventy-four-year-old Mavis, said: "Anne-Marie and I had been on the promenade having a walk around when we noticed the tide coming in.

"Shane and Kevin had started bringing the jet-ski in and brought the car down from the car park, but the tide was coming in so fast.

"I was on the jetty screaming my head off for someone to help us. But no-one came.

"The wheels just went down into the sand and that was it.

"Shane was yelling at me to call the coastguard, but someone said they only help people so there was nothing we could do," she said.

Within minutes the car was submerged. Mavis added: "Because of the tide, the slope of the beach and the type of sand, there was no grip.

"The car just went down. Someone later told us they'd never seen the tide come in that fast."

The coastguard and the Red Cross were dispatched around 6pm last Monday to the coastline, which has the second highest tidal rise and fall in the world.

But the car was declared a write-off and the rescuers had to wait 90 minutes for the tide to go down before a Burnham Area Rescue Boat (Barb) tractor towed it to shore.

"The amount of water pouring out of it was unbelievable when it came out," said Mavis.

The whole ordeal was captured on camera, with images of Kevin, waist-deep in the water looking forlornly towards his sodden motor.

Although in shock at what had happened, the Downtons were overwhelmed by the helpfulness of the people around them. Mavis said: "I've got to say 95 per cent of good Samaritans in this world must live there, as everyone helped in every way they could."

The first was Brian, a worker from Red Cross who drove them to Pontins where they were able to calm down and begin their holiday.

And the second knight in shining armour was Dave, who worked for the coastguard. He tipped them off about a friend who was selling a M-registration burgundy Volvo and by the end of the week, the car was theirs for a bargain price. They drove home in it last Friday after enjoying a week at Pontins.

"Everyone was fantastic," said Mavis. "They kept singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" to us. And now we say "There is nothing like a Dave" instead of the song "There is nothing like a dame", because he helped us so much.

"If anyone had said our holiday would be ending up like it did I would never have believed them."