Rescued by the RAF, the family who went to sea in their car

The man's wife also had to be plucked from the water by rescue crews.

A Sea King helicopter was scrambled to airlift the family to safety after their car got stranded on the Holy Island crossing in Northumberland.

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Lifeboat crews say the family, from Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, had attempted to cross well after the tide had come in, leaving their car partially floating in the water, according to lifeboat crews.

A helicopter from RAF Boulmer winched the couple and their children, aged just two and four, to safety.

The family made an emergency call at about 1.30pm yesterday afternoon, over an-hour-and-a-half after the last safe crossing time.

RNLI crews from Seahouses and Holy Island were also called to the submerged road, where they found the man and children on the car's roof and the woman up to her waist in the water.

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All were winched to safety without injury. Within 12 hours the helicopter and rescue crews were again scrambled after reports of another vehicle being submerged.

After an intensive search, the car and two teenagers, believed to be from nearby Tyneside, were found on a sandy beach on the other side of the island.

The coastguard has urged visitors and tourists to consult the tide tables at either side before attempting to cross.

In the past 12 months, eight rescues have taken place on the causeway, where signs at both sides display the safe crossing times.

Ian Clayton, of the RNLI at Seahouses, said: "The signage is in my view perfectly adequate.

"People who get caught out are often visitors to the area, from places where they don't have a lot of experience with the sea.

"The water at either end of the causeway is fairly shallow, but in the middle it gets deeper and that's where people are getting into real trouble."