A bride and groom from Cornwall who took a break from their reception to go surfing had to be rescued after becoming caught in strong currents.

The couple were enjoying their wedding reception at a beach bar at Porthtowan on Thursday evening when the groom decided to go for a surf.

His wife joined him for a dip and the pair got caught in a rip current.

Off-duty lifeguards raced to the sea and rescued the bride, who ended up on some rocks, before saving her husband.

RNLI lifeguards John Craze and Ben Salter had finished their patrols for the day and were packing up their equipment when they were alerted to the plight of the newly-weds.

‘Really grateful’

The pair each grabbed a rescue board and ran down to the water.

“The bride had managed to pull herself on to the rocks, so I paddled over and took her back to the beach, where RNLI lifeguards Adam Bunt and Kian Harris were on the scene,” said Mr Salter.

“They took over care for her while I went to help John, who was paddling out to help the groom.”

According to Mr Salter, the groom was caught in a really strong rip current and was being dragged around the corner of the headland, which at high tide is “no-man’s land”.

“He was in a fair bit of trouble and had also abandoned his board, which was his only flotation device,” the lifeguard added.

“Once we reached him, John pulled him on to his rescue board and the three of us began the long paddle back which took about an hour through the strong rip and surf, which was about five to six feet high.”

A number of surfers who were out on the water also joined in to help the groom.

“If we hadn’t been there, there is no way the groom could have got back by himself,” Mr Salter said.

“When we got back to shore, a few of the wedding party were out watching, and they were both really grateful, even getting us to pose for a few pictures.”

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