A BRAVE Moreton man turned the tide of fortune for a couple left stranded on a Mersey sandbank.

Ieuan and Joan Edwards were cut off by the incoming tide when walking their dog on the beach at Hoylake on Saturday afternoon.

While attempting to reach safety Mr Edwards was trapped in mud and his wife was forced to enter the deep channel but found herself unable to reach the shore.

Jeff McComish and his seven-year-old son were cycling by the beach when they spotted the couple neck-deep in sea water.

After some quick thinking Mr McComish donned a lifebelt and scrambled over the rocks to pull Mr Edwards to shore. He then entered the channel and helped Mrs McComish swim to the safety of a sandbank guided by the Hoylake coastguard, who was called the scene.

The couple were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital after their ordeal and later were allowed to return home to Congleton in Cheshire.

Mr McComish, 40, who is a signaller at Ellesmere Port, admitted he was worried before jumping in.

He told the Globe: "I don't think fear came into it. I thought hopefully this would work - I'm not a strong swimmer - but as it happened it turned out OK."

But even after his couragous rescue he insisted he was not a hero.

"Mrs Edwards rang yesterday to thank us and I just said she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and we were in the right place at the right time," he says.

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