THIS is the incredible moment a crowd of tourists rush to haul a stranded ice cream van from the ocean after it had been swept out to sea.
The owner was left red faced after he popped to the loo.
The truck was parked on Harlyn Bay Beach near Newquay in Cornwall when its owner disappeared to answer the call of nature.
In the meantime the tide raced in and engulfed the motor, trapping it in the sand and waves.
Amazing videos show dozens of beachgoers forming a tug-o-war team to desperately try and pull the ‘Kelly Whip’ van from the sea with a rope but to no avail.
A 4×4 with a winch also tried to free it but it would not budge.
At high tide the van was seen almost fully submerged being battered by the waves as onlookers watched in disbelief.
Eventually when the sea receded around 9pm a tractor was able to drag it back up the beach.
Holidaymaker James Price, 26, said: “As the tide came in everyone was looking for the owner and started trying to pull it to safety.
“We managed to get most of the ice creams off, except a few raspberry ripples which fell in the sea, and put them in a local cafe.
“When the owner returned about an hour and a half later he said he had a bad stomach and had been on the toilet.
“He was a small old guy who had been working on the beach for 20 years.
“He was really embarrassed.
“It got further out and stranded and the coastguard put a cordon round it with a diver to stop people going near it.
“There were loads of fish swimming round it, eating all the wafers and flakes.
“One bloke took his fishing rod and caught a couple of sea bass which were circling.
“When the tide went out in the evening, a tractor was called in to pull it out.
“The owner was obviously upset as his van was completely ruined.”
One local said the driver had got the van stuck on the sand the previous week.
HM Coastguard said: “Just before 5 yesterday afternoon (07 July) HM Coastguard was made aware of an ice cream van that was caught by the tide at Harlyn Bay, Cornwall.
“Padstow Coastguard Rescue Team and RNLI Lifeguards were sent to ensure the safety of those involved.
“The driver was safe and well and not in the vehicle. The owner arranged a recovery vehicle which recovered the van at around 9.45pm when tide receded enough for it to be safe to do so.
“Coastguard rescue officers left once the vehicle was recovered and in a safe location.”
In July last year, residents in St Ives, Cornwall, were at their wits end due to reckless tourists driving onto the sand and getting stuck.
Another daft tourist got their £55,000 Mercedes EQB stuck in the sand thinking a beach was a car park.
One livid local blasted the scene at nearby Towan Beach, in Newquay, fuming: “More money than sense.
“You buy a Chelsea tractor with 4WD and think that means it really will go anywhere. Only it won’t.”
While in June 2022, even an AA van got stuck on the sands after it was dispatched to recover a car trapped on Porth Beach in Newquay.
