Episode 10 Countryside 999

From the Highlands of Scotland to the coast of Cornwall,

the great British countryside is spectacular.

But we work and play in it at our peril.

And when things go wrong,

the emergency services race to the rescue...

This chap is having a heart attack and we need to get him in quickly.

SIREN WAILS

We've got a cow on the road.

Countryside policing at its finest!

..going hundreds of miles against the clock,

battling the elements

and braving the waves.

From fields and forests

to cliffs and country roads,

we'll be right at the heart of the action.

With police fighting crime.

I'm not arguing it, I'm reporting you for it.

Paramedics saving lives.

And lifeguards patrolling the seas.

We are there as the emergency services pull together

to pick up, patch up and protect the public.

This is Countryside 999.

Coming up, Cornwall Air Ambulance

are called to a serious fall at a farm.

You can't breathe?

You're struggling? Sorry?

Countryside cops lay down the law of the land in the Brecon Beacons.

It says the insurance details aren't held.

This isn't right, what's happening.

And lifeguards face their busiest summer in 24 years.

Swimmers and bodyboarders, just make sure you're right up

in-between those red and yellow flags,

this wind will blow you out.

Many of us dream of living in the country, to be surrounded by

rolling fields, winding country lanes, rugged coastlines.

But living in the back of beyond has its downside.

When things go wrong, help isn't always just round the corner.

In Cornwall, one rural organisation

going the distance to bring us emergency care

is the air ambulance based in Newquay.

Lead paramedic Steve Garvey has been on the team for the past four years.

Cornwall Air Ambulance started 26 years ago

and was the first air ambulance in the country.

It probably initially started

due to the difficult geography and terrain of Cornwall

where we're surrounded by water on both sides of the county

with very isolated rural communities that are up to 70 or 80 minutes away

from the nearest district general hospital.

At their new base, Steve and fellow paramedic Mick McLachlan

are scrambling to a pensioner who has fallen from a ladder.

OK, Geoff, we'll be lifting shortly. Thanks, Paul. Cheers.

Whenever there's a 999 call,

the teams aim to be up in the air in less than three minutes.

Where are we off to?

Praze near Camborne. Praze-An-Beeble.

The Helimed is heading 23 miles south to

Praze-An-Beeble, near Camborne.

The rural location means the team have to hunt for a make-do helipad.

It looks like their best bet is in a nearby field.

They arrive in under 15 minutes.

Steve races 100m to the scene.

There's little info available but he knows he's dealing with

a pensioner who's fallen off his ladder.

A road ambulance paramedic team is already on the scene

treating 70-year-old Geoff.

His wife has told them he wasn't breathing when she got to him

so she gave him the kiss of life.

Steve listens carefully.

Geoff's breathing difficulties could mean internal injuries.

Geoff's clearly in pain

but paramedic Ted is struggling to find a vein

to give him pain relief.

Yeah, we'll need a pelvic splint.

A scoop.

What's the last thing you remember, Geoff?

I don't remember.

Mick grabs a pelvic splint to keep Geoff as still as possible.

He may have fractured or broken bones.

At this stage, the team can't rule anything out.

Geoff, can you rapidly make a fist like that?

He's been conscious and alert since the crew got here

but obviously he does have a head injury.

I'm just going to look to try and get some...

Geoff, with this hand,

can you make a fist for me several times, sir?

As fast as you can. Open and close your fist as fast as you can.

Can you do it faster?

That's it. Really pump that fist, sir.

Steve also struggles to find a vein to inject the morphine.

Is that hurting?

You can't breathe?

You're struggling. Sorry?

Get a good listen.

The longer Geoff's on the ground, the colder his body will become,

making it harder to find a vein to give him much-needed pain relief.

Steve notices a problem with Geoff's right lung.

They must get him into the waiting ambulance.

GEOFF CRIES OUT IN PAIN

But moving him is causing him massive pain.

Nice and still.

Sorry.

He now faces an agonising transfer but the crew have no choice.

He may be suffering life-threatening internal injuries.

They need to get him in the air fast.

From keeping safe in the countryside to keeping the countryside safe.

In Wales, Dyfed-Powys Police cover a massive area,

stretching over 4,000 square miles.

Being a local bobby on the beat can be a challenge

when dealing with a population the size of Manchester

in an area 100 times bigger.

The Brecon Beacon National Park is a tourist hot spot.

But its stunning landscape needs protecting

from the very folk that flock to it.

Looking after the countryside are neighbourhood policing officers,

often working alone.

Today, it's the turn of new team member Rhodri Arnell,

in the job less than a year.

It's a bank holiday weekend.

The area we are in is very much dependent on tourism.

Bank holiday means busy.

Today's shift might not be a walk in the park.

Essentially, things that can be an issue is antisocial behaviour,

overnight camping,

littering, fly-tipping.

There's certainly been rural thefts in the past

so we're doing high-visibility patrols to help prevent those.

Especially with the weekends,

you get a lot of people who like to come out here and party.

It really does spoil other people's experiences

of being out in the countryside.

Rhodri's heading to Cwm Porth,

the heart of the park's stunning and remote waterfall country.

Essentially, it attracts a lot of walkers, kayakers,

people who like to go gorge walking.

It's basically for people that like a bit of adventure.

With him today is National Park Warden John Pimm.

John's 12 years' experience will be a massive help for rookie Rhodri.

-Morning, Rhod.

-Morning, John.

And the morning's first problem - litter.

And it's nothing to do with the cat.

-Any issues then?

-Well, I've only just come on now,

but Hugh has said that he's picked up a sharps box

so you've got that in the back there

so we'll take that back to Brecon Hospital.

I don't think there's any marks on it.

Potentially harmful drug needles

have been dumped in a nearby car park.

I'll just drop it into Brecon Hospital at the end of the day

and let them get rid of it.

Luckily, they're boxed

so there's not much risk of injury.

There's quite a few in there, for some reason.

-And that was found overnight, was it?

-Yeah, first thing this morning.

It's been a while since we've had any sharps in the area.

At least they're in a box.

We'll pop up later and check there's none hidden around anywhere

-up by where it was.

-Right, yeah.

But right now, John's got another headache brewing.

Apparently, there are some campers down by the Blue Pool

so we can go and have a quick word with those, if you want, first off.

Apparently, they're tidy

but we'll go down and explain why they shouldn't be down there,

-if that's all right?

-Yeah, no problem at all.

Over four million visitors descend on the Brecon Beacons every year.

Protecting the park means clamping down on campers.

They probably didn't wake up this morning

expecting to see a police officer and a National Parks Warden

come down here, to be honest with you.

But they've got to learn somehow.

Morning!

What's that?

We thought it was a National Park?

Oh, right, OK. Sorry, mate, we didn't know.

OK, we'll pack up, clear up and move on.

Finish your breakfast, finish everything you're doing, tidy up,

I'll give you an hour or so.

We think it's a National Park so we presumed you was allowed to

because it's a National Park.

But, obviously, if you're not allowed to, you're not allowed to.

Thank you. Thanks very much.

Unfortunately, you can't pitch up anywhere,

you have to go to a proper campsite and camp there.

These guys were tidy, there was no rubbish,

they had a little fire but nothing to worry about.

So, yeah, just words of advice and let them carry on.

Where we are today, for example, this is an area of conservation

because of the plants you find in the stream banks and beds.

Unwittingly, people might be destroying,

damaging those important features which make up the National Park.

So, park or no park,

if you pitch up on private land without permission,

it's bye-de-bye campers.

After packing them off, John gets a call from a member of the public

reporting some motorbikes on a restricted rural byway.

The pair hit the trail in pursuit of the bikers,

but to their surprise, it's not motorbikes they find.

We've just found some people who shouldn't be up here.

Back in Cornwall, air ambulance paramedics Steve and Mick

have raced 25 miles to a remote farm near Camborne.

After landing in a nearby field,

it was a 100m dash to help 70-year-old Geoff,

who's fallen off his ladder.

Ready, set, roll.

Ow!

A road ambulance crew is also on the scene.

-Ow!

-Sorry, boss.

Here we go, Geoff.

Still struggling to breathe there, Geoff, a bit?

Geoff is struggling to breathe,

a sign he may have serious internal injuries.

The crew need him airborne as soon as possible.

But the Helimed is in a field opposite.

Ready, set, lift.

Earlier, the paramedics tried to give Geoff pain relief

but his veins had collapsed

so they will give him morphine orally once he's on the helicopter.

The quickest and safest way to get to the chopper

which is 100m away is by land ambulance.

The team now have two options -

get Geoff to the major trauma unit in Plymouth half an hour away,

or take the ten minute trip to the smaller

Treliske Emergency Department in Truro.

His breathing is a big worry.

They go for Treliske.

Fine, no worries.

Earlier, the crew couldn't find a vein,

so Geoff's now given oral morphine.

-Brilliant.

-OK?

He was quite conscious and alert, so we were able to give him

some pain relief orally.

If they're not alert, obviously we can't give them

anything orally, because the risk of compromising the airway's too great.

The crew keep a careful watch on Geoff's breathing.

'100 feet.'

You can now disembark.

-We'll give you 30 seconds, then shut down.

-Roger that.

Geoff could be suffering severe internal injuries,

but the full extent won't be known until he's had a scan.

Coming up, the resus team deal with the full impact of Geoff's fall.

It's quite a significant injury, that.

I think he's gone with some force on the right side of his chest.

The police go off the beaten track with some rogue off-roaders.

Which way did you come in?

You came in from that way, yeah?

Which said "no vehicles".

First, lifeguards feel the heat as bank holiday hits the beaches.

You never quite know what sort of incidents you're going to deal with.

The north coast of Cornwall is home to some of Britain's

most striking coastline.

Wide sandy beaches pull in sun-seekers

and adrenaline junkies.

A west-facing bay brings big waves off the Atlantic Ocean,

but with those strong swells comes danger.

-LOUDSPEAKER:

-Swimmers and bodyboarders,

just make sure you're right up

in-between those red and yellow flags.

This wind will blow you out.

Watergate Bay,

one of North Cornwall's busiest beaches.

It's one of the busiest weekends of the year, August bank holiday.

So the lifeguards are bracing themselves for a hectic day.

These guys are highly trained lifesavers,

but surfing's in their blood.

When they're not snagging big waves from South Africa

to Santa Cruz, they're keeping us safe in the surf.

The lifeguards' best weapon against danger on the beach?

Their eyes.

Above the beach, lifeguard Tom Houghton

gets the bird's-eye view of the bay.

We're here at Watergate today.

At the moment, the tide's going out.

Still got a bit of cloud cover, so beaches are slowly filling up.

It's set to clear up and we're expecting a busy low tide patrol.

Tom's in constant contact with the team on the beach below.

It's a couple of miles of beach that we have to scan, so the guys

in the truck, they're concentrating really on the patrolled flagged area.

It can be quite intense, you might do an hour and a half.

At that point, you really need to change over.

In the truck patrolling the beach, Nick and Ian.

At Watergate Bay, we've got more of a family beach.

Most people are very aware of the rules and flags

and there's nice signage as they walk on the beach,

that we've put up this morning.

Just watching the bathers, making sure they're

on the safest part of the beach.

And making sure they're as safe as possible

and that they're having as much fun as possible, as well.

The lifeguards swap roles regularly to stay alert

for high-risk rescues.

That's good.

But for every wipe-out on a bomb wave,

there's a blow out on the beach.

Mum Maura has done her knee in chasing her kids on the sand.

The lady's just come up to the truck, and she said she's

hurt her leg, but she's not sure what it is.

She described it as something slipped in her leg.

So whether she's dislocated her leg,

or whether it's cramp or some kind of muscular thing

we're not sure, but because we're getting a bit busier now,

best thing to do is just take them straight back to the hut

where people can deal with her.

'Copied.'

Oh, no!

Maura is taken off the beach and up to the hut.

And it's over to Ian to get her checked out.

I can't believe it.

Take a seat there for a moment, take some weight off it.

It's not a great start to Maura's family holiday.

Oh, so silly.

Instead of catching the waves, she'll be catching a lift to

the Minor Injury Unit at Newquay.

They've got a map to Minor Injuries in Newquay.

A day like, probably take about 20 minutes

to get there, with the traffic.

They're just going to go there and get checked out by a professional.

First day today, literally five minutes on the beach

and she'd done herself a mischief.

So, hopefully she'll be able to

get back down here, next couple of days,

and enjoy the rest of her holiday.

Now I'm going to go back to the beach

and carry on trying to keep people safe.

But back on the beach, Hannah has spotted trouble.

She wastes no time in warning the bathers.

LOUDSPEAKER: Everyone in front of the truck here,

if you just want to make your way back to the beach.

If everybody could just come back to the beach.

As the tide goes out, sandbanks move,

currents grow stronger and the wind picks up.

All that spells danger.

Tom clocks another problem.

A kite sail without a surfer.

Just got a kite down over here,

but from the base they could see somebody sort of swimming in a hole

down this end of the beach.

Do you want to go and just check he's all right?

We got the thumbs up.

Yeah, we got the thumbs up, so I think that's all we needed to see.

Speedy teamwork between the hut and beach patrol

makes sure the kite surfer is OK.

But later, a bodyboarding family get in very deep water.

They were just floating around out the back,

trying to kick against the current

where they were losing energy and becoming tired.

From bank holiday on the beach to bank holiday in the Brecon Beacons.

PCSO Rhodri and park warden John

are being kept on their toes by the holiday hordes.

What's that?

After shifting campers off protected land,

there's now reports of trail bikers on a restricted rural road.

The remote byway has been off limits to vehicles since 2006.

You can see the ruts in the wet mud where they've taken

their 4x4s and gone mud-clogging, as it were.

Which is off the track.

It's more of a problem if they're damaging the land around them.

For example, now, we've just found

some people who shouldn't be up here.

With no sign of the bikers,

the pair discover a group of off-roaders.

One of the motors isn't looking too tidy.

Hi, guys.

You would have passed the sign saying "no motor vehicles".

We come up from England on Friday, with the kids.

We've got some quad bikes back at the place, as well.

And we're trying to find tracks like this.

And say, what, last time we come up here,

a couple of years ago, it was open.

But then, obviously now, it's been closed, cos the law's changed.

It's something to do. Cheap sport. It's all right, this.

Which way did you come in?

We came in from that way, yeah?

Which said "no vehicles".

The sign. We got a map, we googled it.

There's no excuse, there are quite clear signs up.

-And cos you googled it isn't really an excuse.

-I know, I know.

While John lectures them about using a restricted road,

Rhodri's more interested in their motors.

One of the vehicles has got two tax disks on display,

and I'm just going to do a check on them

to see how legitimate these vehicles are,

if they've got insurance.

I noticed the number plate on one of the vehicles is broken

and one isn't actually on display so that's another issue.

So I'm just going through my police colleague

and hopefully he'll get back to me now and see what we can do.

Rhodri does a quick check.

WOMAN SPEAKS ON RADIO

Can I have a vehicle check, please?

And, according to the database,

there may be no insurance on two of the three motors.

-ON RADIO:

-'Insurance not held, MOT until October.'

You haven't got any...

It says the insurance details aren't held.

So, to me, they're saying that that vehicle hasn't got insurance.

This isn't right. What's happening?

See, there's something lapsed now, again.

My insurance company are not being put on the database

for the police station, why is that not happening? Yeah?

The database isn't infallible.

It's a tough situation for new boy Rhodri.

I realise that the Brecon Beacons warden was there, but that's

not his role, to play out with things like that.

So, essentially, it was just me in the policing role.

As a community support officer,

Rhodri doesn't have full police powers.

Stuck on a remote road and half an hour away from the nearest

police station, he calls for support.

I'm currently on Sarn Helen.

We've come across three off-roader 4x4s,

two of which have come back as no insurance held.

I don't know if you can advise.

I've got insurance documents for one of them

but it doesn't really...

I'm not 100% sure about it.

The other one hasn't got any documents at all.

The insurance situation is confusing.

And, with the police radio buzzing, rookie Rhodri is on his own.

Unfortunately, it's the rural nature of the force.

Some vehicles may not be able to commit to coming out here.

They've got long distances to travel.

Certainly there may be other urgent ongoing matters.

At the moment, there's an assault, so some of our officers,

or all of our officers are tied up down there currently.

MAN OVER RADIO:

There's nothing more Rhodri can do about the insurance question now.

Right guys, you're basically... You're free to go, right?

Unless I can get any officers out here to seize the vehicles,

then, essentially, I'm going to have to get as much details as possible

from these individuals and carry on enquiries over the next coming days.

For Rhodri, the off-roaders will be gone, but not forgotten.

They could face a fine for driving on a restricted byway,

and if they do turn out not to have insurance,

that might mean another fine and points on their licence.

But, as the first lot leave,

the bank holiday traffic just keeps coming.

We've got a couple more 4x4s coming up to us now,

so I'll just wait here and stop those and

we'll deal with those accordingly, as well.

So, busy spot. We'll see what comes up with this lot.

In Cornwall, aircrew paramedics Steve and Mick have airlifted

casualty Geoff to Treliske Emergency Department in Truro.

70-year-old male, fallen 3m to 4m from a ladder,

landed directly onto his back,

onto hard ground, possibly rocks.

When his wife discovered him she was concerned he wasn't

actually breathing for a minute, So she did a minute's worth of CPR.

But I believe he was struggling to breathe,

with the shallow respirations.

Thank you very much indeed.

OK. Right, let's have the monitoring on.

The air ambulance crew's job is done,

so they hand over to the resus team, led by Dr Mark Jadav.

Geoff is in so much pain,

there's a good chance he has broken bones.

So they waste no time in carrying out a vital X-ray.

The images have come back

and it's not good news.

He's pretty much broken every rib on his right-hand side

of his chest in two places, by the looks of things.

It's what we call a flail chest.

The right side of the chest X-ray looks like he's got some

pulmonary contusions, that's bleeding into the lung,

or early bruising of the lung.

But it's quite a significant injury, that.

I think he's gone with some force on the right side of his chest.

It's painful for him.

The morphine seems to be getting on top of the pain, so that's good.

So, the next thing we need to know is, is there anything that needs

surgical drainage there, or does he need to go

to our cardiothoracic centre in Derriford, Plymouth?

A further scan shows Geoff

has a fracture at the base

of his skull and damaged vertebrae.

He's so badly injured, he'll need transferring to Plymouth.

That was just some water.

But you've had some really strong painkillers, OK?

So they should make you feel a bit better soon.

It's been a challenging job for air paramedic Mick.

We knew he had had fairly significant injuries

certainly to his head and chest.

But even so, quite surprised at the extent of those injuries,

considering how alert

and how chatty he was during our contact with him.

So, we get around that by always assuming the worst.

You know, if you treat for the worst

and assume everything's broken until you can prove it isn't.

Thanks to Cornwall Air Ambulance,

Geoff avoided a long journey to hospital by road,

which, for older folk like Geoff, can have huge benefits.

As your age increases,

the body is older

and it's less able to deal with serious injuries.

So, classically, young people will compensate very well.

But I have to say Geoff was pretty stoical about his injuries

and taking it all very well and coping very well with it.

Policing road traffic can be tricky

when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere.

PCSO Rhodri and park warden John are facing rush hour on

an ancient Roman road in the Brecons.

They just dealt with one group of illegal off-roaders.

Two more have just arrived

and park warden John is determined to lay down the law of the land.

Whereabouts?

Which gate was the sign at?

Oh, OK. To be honest there weren't...

I don't think there were any signs this side.

But, you know, hands up. if we're on a restricted byway,

we're on a restricted byway.

Have you got a list of byways

which are restricted in the area?

I can't give you a list. That's up to you to find out.

I'll be honest with you, you may well be on a legal route and someone might

wave their walking stick at you and call you names

and you could be legally entitled to be there.

So it's important to protect those rights that you've got,

as well as making sure you're not going places

you're not supposed to. So it's getting that balance.

We're basically just green laning around Wales.

We've tried to follow as many legal byways as we can.

We're following an OS map on GPS.

We've come up this byway this side,

we didn't realise it's restricted and we've been stopped at the top.

And that's it, basically.

Essentially, they've been very compliant,

they're aware of their mistakes

and they're free to go now.

But they will be issued a ticket in regards to off-roading.

Now, Rhod, just Section 34, cos they were driving tidy.

Yeah, there's no other issues.

So it'll just be a Section 34 that comes through the post.

You can either fight it or you can just cough up.

Hands up, we're on a restricted byway.

Thankfully, this time it's a straightforward booking

for driving on a restricted road and they're on their way.

Rhodri's one-man patrol on such a remote patch

has put him through his paces.

From unauthorised camping...

..to illegal off-roaders...

It says the insurance details aren't held.

This isn't right. What's happening?

But he's met the challenge head-on.

It's quite a vulnerable position to be in really,

especially when you face issues such as no mobile phone signal.

Sometimes our radios,

we don't get any radio signal.

I haven't really got any officers here, essentially.

It's quite a difficult position to be in,

especially when you don't have all the powers

a PC has to deal with these situations.

So you can only do your best.

And, on that particular day,

I think I did my best.

From remote roads to buzzing beaches.

It's bank holiday at Watergate Bay near Newquay.

The surf's up, the beach is packed

and the lifeguards, as ever, are on the lookout.

'Just make sure you stay in the centre of the red and yellow flags.'

Earlier, high winds wiped out a kite surfer

and one mum's holiday was cut short.

WHISTLE BLOWS

It's been a very busy day.

It's bank holiday in August, so it's a very busy weekend for us.

And the sun's out, which has attracted large crowds to the beach,

with reasonable surf conditions giving us plenty of work to do.

It's the hottest summer in seven years

and with incidents up by a quarter since June,

now more than ever the lifeguards need to be alert.

They rely on kit like nifty Rescue Water Crafts

to reach incidents swiftly.

On duty today is lifeguard Hannah.

It's a brilliant piece of kit.

It's going to be with somebody within seconds,

if it's already in the water.

And, in these conditions, with so many people in the water,

you've got to be here, there and everywhere.

It's a fast, responsive piece of kit, so we rely on it a lot.

If it all looks like these guys are having far too much fun,

don't worry, they are.

But it is tough, physical work.

It can get tiring and cold from the constant exposure

to wind and water, so the team change over regularly.

Today it's a full team of six on duty,

including Hannah and Nick.

I've just been out on the Jet Ski,

patrolling the bathing area.

So, doing like a horseshoe shape around the bathers to keep them

within the red and yellow flags and to try and keep them

within their own depth today.

Had some dangerous conditions, with waves coming through

and large lulls of no waves coming, and therefore there's

a lot of water moving out sea.

During my stint, it's got worse and worse, and there's been

some rips opening up on either side of the bathing areas.

Rip currents can be powerful, even deadly

and, to the untrained eye, they are hard to spot.

LOUDSPEAKER: Yeah, just get the attention of the surfers

out the back of the bathing area.

You need to keep well clear of the red and yellow flags.

But Hannah's on the ball and she's clocked trouble.

She alerts Nick, who's patrolling on the Jet Ski.

In seconds, he finds the problem.

Three bodyboarders, a dad and two teenagers, are in trouble.

They're out of their depth and struggling to get back to shore.

Nick picks up the teenagers first.

With only enough room for two on the rescue sled, Dad has to stay behind.

Finally, Dad is picked up and given a ride to the beach.

Dad Graham, daughter Lucy and 18-year-old Carl

had planned to end their holiday with a splash,

but got a bigger one than they'd bargained for.

We're on holiday, this is our favourite beach,

so we thought we'd come and spend our last day here.

We just went out and kept getting dragged out.

And a lifeguard came out and said there was a bit of a riptide,

so we couldn't get back in, it was too strong.

The children seemed OK,

they managed to climb onto the Jet Ski well, onto the sled.

They were happy to get onto the Jet Ski,

cos they were just floating around out the back,

trying to kick against the current

where they were losing energy and becoming tired.

They've done really well, the lifeguards.

You feel safe all the time, cos they're back and forwards

on the Jet Ski, and there's people watching,

telling you to watch out for the flags on the shore.

So you know where you are the whole time.

Just that one time you switch off for a few seconds

and you get pulled out.

Luckily, that one time Dad switched off,

the lifeguards were switched on.

Dad was relieved also to be jumping on the Jet Ski.

He was happy that I picked up his children first

and then went back for himself.

We're out there to do our job and it's part of the job.

But it's a good feeling to bring someone back in,

when they say thank you and are really happy with what

you've done to help them.

It's a happy holiday ending for this family

and it's not long before they're back on the boards.

-LOUDSPEAKER:

-OK, your attention in the water please!

The lifeguard service is now ending.

Due to the conditions and strong rip current,

we would recommend that everybody leaves the water.

If you do choose to stay in,

it will be entirely unsupervised.

The lifeguard service will resume tomorrow at 10am.

Thank you.

When the sun's out, we hit the surf,

taking the thrills with the spills.

Here in Cornwall, the lifeguards do their best to keep us safe.

It's been all go for the emergency services in Britain's rural areas.

After a stay in hospital,

Geoff is back home at his farm in Camborne,

taking it easy and keeping off ladders, for now.

Dyfed-Powys Police never pursued

the case of the off-roaders' insurance any further.

It seems possible that they did have insurance after all.

And the scorching summer saw the RNLI deal with

over 10,500 incidents across the Southwest.

And you thought it was quiet in the countryside.