Five motorists spent the night stranded on a beach after their 4x4's got bogged down in a sequence of events more likened to a 'Carry On' caper.
Four of the multi-terrain vehicles got stuck as each one was called out to rescue the other.
The drama started at 1pm on Sunday when teenager Ashley Jackson, who was out fishing at Horden, went searching for his missing dog only for his vehicle to become stuck axle-deep in sludge.
The 19-year-old summoned help in the shape of friend Matthew Whitehead, who rushed to his aid in an Izusa Trooper with his girlfriend, TJ, also a teenager.
The 23-year-old farmer also found himself stuck in the mud.
Now getting on for 5pm, the undeterred trio phoned friends and the cavalry arrived once again in the form of 19-year-old Kasey Dixon-Grainger.
It was midnight before Kasey arrived at Grants Houses, near Horden, in his dad's Land Rover, but he also got stuck.
While TJ was picked up, the other lads refused to leave their cars.
Kasey phoned home and mum, Tanya, braved the elements with her husband Paul, a mechanic, arriving on the scene at 4am on Monday.
But having got onto the mud flats, the couple's 4x4 failed to negotiate the slippery pitfalls and they too were stranded two miles south of their son.
Fire crews said it would be impossible to recover all of vehicles because of access problems and advised the drivers to leave the vehicles on the beach.
But they didn't want to abandon their motors and spent the night inside their vehicles until a recovery tractor was able to haul them out at 9.30am on Monday.
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