Coastguard rescue man who 'thought he was going to die' after becoming stranded off Cleethorpes

Coastguard officials say a man is lucky to be alive after he became stranded on marshland hundreds of metres off the coast of Cleethorpes in freezing temperatures.

The 57-year-old, who had spent most of the day at Buck Bench, became disorientated as he tried to make his way home shortly before sunset on Tuesday.

HM Coastguard were called after a dog walker heard his cries for help.

A spokesman said: "He very quickly started to suffer from the effects of the cold night.

"When we finally reached him, he was suffering from extreme hypothermia, which was our biggest concern, due to the temperature only being about two degrees, with a wind chill of minus-three.

"He told us that he had tried to set fire to his jacket to try and keep warm and on three occasions had laid down because he thought he was going to die out there."

The Coastguard said when they called for an ambulance they were told there were 170 outstanding incidents awaiting an ambulance.

It was only because two police officers drove by on an unrelated incident that the man was taken to hospital.