Freed... girls who crawled 100 metres along drainage pipe

TWO curious teenagers crawled for more than 100 metres through a water outlet pipe after they got stuck and were unable to turn round.

The girls, who have not been named, climbed into the two feet wide pipe at Goodrington beach, Paignton, but then got into trouble as they could not get out they way they entered.

In an attempt to find a way out they crawled in the pitch black for about 100 metres underneath the beach and banged for help on a manhole cover in the concrete walkway.

The girls' guardian raised the alarm and Torbay Council workers lifted the covers and helped them out.

One fire appliance from Paignton also attended the scene at about 1pm on Saturday.

Watch commander Peter Wolf said: "When we arrived the girls had got out. They had crawled into the overflow pipe on Goodrington beach and could not turn around.

"They went along the pipe in the pitch black under the beach and banged for help on the manhole cover."

A Torbay Council spokesman said: "We are not aware of any previous incidents like this happening before involving the stream outlet pipe.

"There is a warning sign at the end of the pipe advising that the water should not be used for recreational purposes.

"We believe this was a one off incident. However, we will be looking into the circumstances so we can consider whether we need to take any steps to prevent any further incidents of this kind."