Police rescue teens trapped in freezing quicksand in Mansfield

The boys dialled 999 after becoming stuck at a large quarry in Mansfield Woodhouse in darkness during the early evening.

As emergency services rushed to the scene, control room staff kept the youngsters calm and helped one of them download and use the What3Words app on his phone to pinpoint their precise location.

The four police officers who were first at the scene leapt into action to free the boys.

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PC Andy Crosby said: “Thanks to some great work by the control room team we were soon able to locate the boys in the dark using the What3Words app, which we all now have on our phones. That helped us get close enough to them to hear their shouts for help.

“None of them were appropriately dressed for the conditions and they’d already been stuck in the mud for around 45 minutes by the time we reached them.

“The weather was terrible and we could see they were losing colour in their faces and were starting to panic. Every time they moved they sunk deeper into the sand.

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“We knew we had to get them out as quickly as possible and were able to identify an area of harder ground nearby we could get to on foot.

“Using a rope from the back of our van we were supported by two members of the public to haul the boys out one by one.

“I’ve been a police officer for the last 18 years but had never dealt with a situation like this. Given the weather conditions that night I all three could have died if we’d not been able to find them. I really hope they realise how serious this incident was and what could have happened if they’d been unable to raise the alarm.”

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The boys, who are believed to have been out on a bike ride during the day, were treated at the scene by paramedics and one was taken to hospital as a precaution.

None was injured during the hair-raising episode shortly after 6.30pm on Saturday, February 6.

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service also attended the scene with specialist rescue equipment to offer assistance.