Rescuers saved a woman who became stranded on rocks near the Ferryboat Inn at Helford Passage on Monday night.

The coastguard rescue team and Falmouth's inshore lifeboat were both called to Bar Beach at around 6pm following reports of "flashing lights and shouting" coming from the water.

Coastguard team members had prepared to enter the water in specialist gear but their colleagues had by that time located a woman on the rocks nearby and it was decided to take her off using the lifeboat.

Following a check over by the RNLI crew she was taken back to her vessel, and a coastguard team spokesperson said she was "very lucky to have survived" as she wasn't wearing a life jacket and it was almost totally dark, with deteriorating weather conditions.

Falmouth RNLI reported that the woman was one of two people staying on a yacht in the river and had rowed, on her own, across to the Ferry Boat Inn, apparently to charge her laptop.

She had found it extremely difficult making headway on the row back, due to the dark and deteriorating conditions, and ended up on the rocks, and had struggled for about 30 minutes before assistance arrived.

Neil Capper, the lifeboat helmsman, said: "The casualty was very lucky that someone heard the calls for help and raised the alarm. The outcome could have been very different particularly as she didn’t have a radio and wasn’t wearing a lifejacket. Safety advice was given and hopefully it’s a lesson learnt."