Four kayakers who got into trouble in rough seas have been rescued by Cardigan RNLI Lifeboat Station volunteers.

The alarm was raised at 10.10am on Wednesday 22 March and the Poppit Sands station’s two inshore lifeboats - the B class Albatross and D class John Darbyshire - were both launched.

A Coastguard helicopter was also scrambled to the incident.

Two of the kayakers were quickly located and taken on board one of the lifeboats, and a search was then carried out for the remaining two casualties, with reports that they had capsized.

One of the kayakers managed to make it to shore and a waiting Coastguard rescue team and the final kayaker was picked up in Cardigan Sound by the lifeboat station’s B-class lifeboat.

All the casualties - who were well equipped and had called in the emergency themselves - were assessed by the volunteer crews and handed over to the Coastguard and ambulance service.

A spokesperson for Cardigan RNLI described: "Both Cardigan Lifeboats were paged to a mayday call raised by a group of four sea kayakers in the vicinity of Cardigan Bar.

"Having launched into heavy surf, the Lifeboats quickly made contact with two of the group, who had made it through the Bar to the area near the Cliff Hotel point.

"The kayakers were brought on board and the boats proceeded into a detailed search of the Bar area to locate the remaining two kayakers who had apparently capsized.

"One kayaker had been able to make their own way to the waiting coastguard team at the caravan park at Patch.

"In conjunction with the coastguard helicopter, the last casualty was located through Cardigan Sound. This casualty was picked up, complete with kayak, by our B class lifeboat.

"All the casualties were assessed by our crews and handed over to the waiting coastguard team at Patch.

"The remaining sea kayaks were also taken to safety and the lifeboats were recovered and made ready for service at approximately 14:30."

Cardigan Lifeboat operations manager Pete Austin said: "There was a great response from all the crew to be able to launch both lifeboats, and we are delighted it was a positive outcome."