A COUPLE were rescued from Windermere's freezing waters after their dinghy was sunk by ice, reports Jennie Dennett.

The man and woman, who are thought to be from Warrington, were travelling out to their yacht when their inflatable dinghy was punctured by a thick piece of ice.

The dinghy quickly sank and the couple, who were not wearing life jackets, were left foundering in the water, according to eye-witness Valerie Thewlis, of Leeds.

Mrs Thewlis was a passenger on board the Miss Cumbria lake cruiser, whose crew saw the incident and radioed the lake's wardens for help.

Miss Cumbria changed course and prepared lifebelts for a possible rescue but the warden's boat reached the couple first and Senior Lake Warden Jim Maguire pulled them aboard.

Mr Maguire said that the incident happened at 11am on Saturday between Belle Isle and Ferry Lines.

He said the couple appeared shaken but were otherwise unhurt.

Back on shore, the couple were warmed up with a hot shower at the warden's office.

Mr Maguire did not release the identity of the couple and they declined to give their names when they were contacted at home by the Westmorland Gazette.

However, the man told the Gazette he felt "lucky to get out of it" and that his partner was "shaken" by the accident.

"Where we put the dinghy in the water there was no ice," he said.

"We nearly got to the other side when we saw ice around Belle Isle.

We were thinking about heading back when we hit a big sheet of it."

Mr Maguire felt that the incident proved that the alert system, where all passenger boats were in radio contact with the warden, worked exceedingly well.

"When there is an emergency on the lake we respond quickly, it shows that the wardens are doing a good job.

"Had an incident like this occurred on another lake with fewer passenger boat traffic and without a rescue boat then it could have been a very different outcome."