A car plunged hundreds of feet off a cliff sparking a desperate rescue operation close to one of Britain’s most well-known coastal landmarks.
The silver vehicle fell into the water in Alum Bay, close to the Needles on the Isle of Wight, on Friday evening in front of horrified onlookers.
Coastguard, police, firefighters and ambulance crews all rushed to the scene, with a man later being ‘recovered’ from the water.
Photos of the aftermath show the wreckage of the car submerged in the water. With the roof and bonnet crumpled, while coastguard search around it.
In a statement released on Friday evening, the police said: ‘We’re currently at the scene of a serious incident in Totland.
‘We were called at 7.21pm this evening (Friday, June 6) after a car, which was being driven along Alum Bay New Road, left the road, came off the cliff top and came to rest in the water below.’
The cliff sits near the world-famous Isle of Wight Needles, which is a row of three stacks of chalk that rise about 30 metres above the water.
Despite the incident, a one-day yacht race around the Isle of Wight, named The Round the Island Race, still went ahead yesterday.
The silver vehicle fell into the water below the cliff on Friday evening and was left wrecked
It is understood a man was ‘recovered’ from the water by a lifeboat volunteer
Emergency services were called at around 7.20pm to Alum Bay in the Isle of Wight
Police, firefighters, paramedics and coastguards all attended the scene following reports of a ‘serious incident’
Yachts passed Alum Bay, where the car fell.
The annual event is organised by the Island Sailing Club.
The race attracts more than 1,200 boats and around 10,000 sailors a year.
It is one of the largest yacht races in the world.
