Rescuers guided by pupils’ phone lights

Dozens of schoolchildren trapped on a Kent beach by the rising tide were rescued by helicopter and lifeboats after using their mobile phones as distress beacons.

The 34 teenagers and two adults, from a Jewish school in London, were plucked from the shore after getting lost during a walk on Monday night.

The hiking party raised the alarm after becoming disorientated as they followed a coastal path between St Margaret’s Bay and Dover Harbour.

The coastguard launched a search involving a helicopter, two lifeboats and one of its own rescue teams. Around 40 volunteers joined the “large-scale operation”.

Richard Cockerill, a UK coastguard senior operations officer, said: “The group was advised to switch on their mobile phone lights to help us locate them. They were seen by one of the lifeboats in an area of active cliff falls, and spotted by the helicopter using the forward-looking infra-red camera. All 36 people were recovered to safety.”