A dangerous lagoon has now been closed after a mum and her daughter were dramatically rescued from waist-deep sand that rescuers said had recently been left there by the council.
The pair had to be hauled to safety with ropes after becoming trapped in thick mud as the tide edged closer.
Shocking video shows the young girl first getting stuck in the sand before her mum also becomes trapped just yards away.
READ MORE: Brazen ram raid sees thieves steal £80,000 worth of motorbikes in minutes
The pair can be seen shouting for help as they struggle to free themselves from the scene at Three Shells Lagoon in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
Four men from the nearby Adventure Island theme park, along with an off-duty lorry driver, rushed to the scene and managed to pull them both to safety.
The dramatic rescue happened on 10 March.
Three Shells Lagoon, which cost £1.9 million to build, first opened on the seafront in 2016.
But the entire area has now been cordoned off while safety work is carried out.
Southend-on-Sea City Council said the lagoon will remain closed until improvements have been completed, as reported by Need To Know.
A spokesperson said: “We are treating the Three Shells Lagoon incident extremely seriously.
“The fencing and safety signage has now been extended and reinforced so that the whole area is now fenced off while the works in the sand are completed and monitored.
“In the meantime, our engineers are looking at a range of options for the lagoon.
“Any options are likely to require planning applications and coastal licensing approvals.
“Public safety comes first therefore the lagoon will remain closed until we are confident it’s safe to reopen it.
“We will continue to update residents as this work progresses.”
At the time of the rescue, a spokesperson for Adventure Island explained how staff rushed to help when they realised the pair were in trouble.
They said: “One of our managers spotted a mother and her young daughter stranded in the Three Shells Lagoon, waist-deep and stuck in wet sand that had recently been placed there by the council, with the tide coming in.
“He immediately alerted members of our workshop team, who quickly brought ropes to secure around them and carefully pulled them to safety.
“Drawing on their training and expertise, the team acted quickly and calmly to rescue them, while another member of the workshop team contacted the Coastguard.
“Thankfully this happened while our team were still on site at the end of the day, allowing staff to spot the situation and step in when it mattered most.
“A huge well done to our team who jumped straight into action and safely rescued them.
“We hope the mother and daughter are both safe and well after the incident.”
Philip Miller MBE, Executive Chairman of Stockvale Group of Companies, also praised the rescuers.
He said: “I want to say a huge thank you to the Adventure Island team who stepped in to help.
“They recognised that two people were in real difficulty and worked together, with real calmness and professionalism, to bring them safely out while the Coastguard were contacted.
“Those kinds of moments test people’s judgement and composure, and the team dealt with it extremely well.
“I’m very grateful to everyone involved and proud of the way they handled the situation.
“Most importantly, we’re very relieved that the mother and daughter were brought safely out, and we hope they are both well after what must have been a very frightening experience.
“It’s the continuing saga of the council’s mismanagement of the lagoon from day one.”
READ MORE: Driver FLIPS car at busy crossing in early morning with bypassers shocked
