“Some of these comments are a little unfair. When darkness falls or visability reduces it is easy to become disorientated even in an area the size of Braunton Burrows. The helicopter was already in the air on a training sortie and this was an excellent opportunity for 22 sqn to put the thermal imaging into practice in virtually their own back yard. A happy ending and everyones a winner”

“As mentioned, they were not going to get a ride in the helicopter, croyde coastguard were going to get them, it was a pure fluke that the helicopter crew were lifting off on a training flight and offered to help.”

“Nobody could possibly be that silly,seems like they wanted a free helicopter ride..."oh look you can see Barnstaple...oh we live just over there...take a few pics before we land quickly.."”

“It's a good job they weren't stripped off in the nudist section of the dunes. The downdraught from the helecopter blades can certainly whip up a storm. They could have been severly sand blasted!”

“Its really not their fault at all - you can probably trace this back to something that happened in their childhood experiences that made them prone to losing their way. Really we shouldn't comment it probably isn't their fault at all and it is so unfair to actually blame them.”

“In days gone by, before the nanny state was present to protect us all, evolution and pure luck decided who should survive and who should perish. I fear that we are gradually becoming a more stupid species for protecting imbeciles and allowing them to breed more of their kind. The rabbits on the burrows have more sense than these two in my opinion. Leave them on the burrows!”

“what a waste of tax payers money”

“Nobody could possibly be that stupid,so i guess that they just wanted a free ride in a helicopter...and got it,just glad i did,nt fall and break my leg while they were enjoying their ride.."oh look how small the burrows looks from up here..oh look at the lights in the distance.....you can almost see our house from here...let me take a few pics."”

“firstly if they didnt know the burrows they should have stayed on the roads/paths and gone during daylight

people who need emergency services because of stupidity like this should be made to compensate the relevant emergency service”

“I think some people are missing the point, ok so not everyone is able to navigate out of a paper bag, the fact that these people were cold wet and disorientated meant that they felt they needed some help. The coastguard were the first to respond and it was only by pure change that the helicopter was going over burrows at the time that they heard the call and offered to help. Its also good for the crew to put into practice the training and help some folks out, in my humble opinion.”