Ferrets Tootsie and Lucky rescued by RNLI lifeboat Published duration 14 August 2013

image caption Tootsie and Lucky could not be lured by food

Two young ferrets have been saved from drowning by lifeboat volunteers in Northumberland.

A Newbiggin RNLI spokesman said the animals were "minutes away from drowning by the rapidly rising tide".

They were stuck on rocks in Cambois Bay and their owners could not rescue them.

It was "definitely a first" for the 162-year-old station and "probably the first ferret rescue in lifeboat history", operations manager Pauline Cooksey said.

The lifeboat was diverted from a training exercise after a 999 call to the Humber coastguard.