A group of Shropshire holidaymakers who were swept out to sea after being caught in a riptide today spoke of their terrifying ordeal.

See also: Holidaymakers rescued from sea

The five friends from Diddlebury, near Ludlow, said how the trip to the Cornish coast quickly turned into a nightmare as three of them were swept out to open sea.

Today 24-year-old Ed Morris, brother Stuart, 25, and sister Stephanie, 20, together with friends, Tara Oliver, 19, and Alex Perry, 25, said they were relieved to be back in Shropshire.

The sixth member of the group 24-year-old David Williams was at home relaxing.

The group was keen to thank the lifeguards who rescued them after they were caught in the riptide off Porth Beach in Newquay at about 6.20pm on Monday.

Tara today said she texted a friend 20 minutes before the drama began saying that she was going for a swim. Now she says she will never go into the sea again.

Alex said that they all decided to take a dip and went into the sea on inflatables and a body board. Stuart returned to the campsite to get his swimming trunks.

“When we went in, the waves did not look too bad,” said Alex. But it soon became apparent that there was a strong under current.

Stephanie, Alex, and David managed to make it to a tiny rocky outcrop, the last piece of land before the open sea.

“We were shouting and waving for help but we could not see anyone doing anything. It was horrible,” said Stephanie.

In spite of being swept further away, the current brought Ed and Tara back to the shore. Talking of their lucky escape, the pair agreed that the body board they had with them saved their lives.

“Holding on to a body board for a while is what gave us strength,” added Tara.

Alex said that it was only when they were talking to coastguards afterwards did they realise that they had had an amazing escape.

He added: “They said that anyone who gets on that rock drowns. If we missed that rock we would have gone out to sea.”

The three friends, who suffered cuts to their feet while clinging to the rocks, were rescued by two Newquay RNLI lifeboats.

Alex said they felt huge relief when the lifeboats arrived. “They were absolutely brilliant,” he added.

By Sophie Bignall