A couple and their dog had to be rescued by the Broughty Ferry lifeboat crew after they were cut off from the shore by the rising tide at the West Sands in St Andrews on Saturday.

The unnamed couple were walking their dog on a sandbank near the mouth of the River Eden at around 3.15pm when the tide closed in around them.

A local woman who spotted their plight alerted the coastguard and lifeboats from Broughty Ferry were diverted to the scene from exercises on the Tay.

The pair, who are not thought to be from the area, were rescued by the inshore craft and taken safely back to land.

They were said to have been unaware of the danger, having been cut off by a channel of water which formed behind them.

A spokesman for the RNLI said, “We have had fatalities on this site in the past and we are continually warning people not to walk on the sands unless they are aware of the local tides. In another couple of hours the sandbank would have been completely submerged.”