A relieved mother was reunited with her young son after he briefly went missing at a West Devon riverside history visitor centre – sparking an emergency services search.

The alert happened at Morwellham Quay, in the Tamar Vallley, near Tavistock, at about 5pm on Tuesday (December 17) when the mother became separated from her ten-year-old.

The rescue teams faced a difficult task in hilly, wooded terrain near the River Tamar on a dark stormy evening. They had the added challenge of the boy using only non-verbal communication and the possibility he might resist being helped.

The incident involved a multi-agency response. including Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Tavistock (DSRT), assisted by their Plymouth team colleagues, Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England, Devon & Cornwall Police, HM Coastguard, the National Police Air Service helicopter, Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service search boats, HM Coastguard, and an in-shore RNLI lifeboat.

About two hours after the Tavistock Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team were summoned, one of the team heard a noise and discovered the boy trapped in brambles. His mother was brought to him and then they were both helped back to their car. The boy was warmed up by the DSRT team and a team doctor checked his condition, given the all-clear to go home and recommended he go for a check-up with his GP the next day as a precaution.

A DSRT spokesman said: “The team was called out at 5.04pm to search for a ten-year old, missing at Morwellham Quay. It was wet, windy and already dark, so we immediately called Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team, Plymouth, and some search dogs teams from the region to assist.

“The terrain was characterised by steep ground, dense woodland and a river which meant that searching was challenging. Other than a place where he was last seen – at the visitor centre – we had little to go on.

“Also, the child used non-verbal communication and was likely to resist being found. We planned a search strategy that set up a containment area to minimise the risk that we (inadvertently) pushed him further from the visitor centre and into the woods.

“We would then search the surrounding area slowly to ensure that all potential hiding places could be searched. It looked like it might be a long night.

“But, fortunately, at around 7.15pm, one of our teams heard a noise and located the child who was stuck in some brambles in the woods near the river, about one km from the place he was last seen.

“We deployed a team to take his mum to the location to reassure him and then returned them to the car park in a team Land Rover.

“He was assessed by one of our doctors, cleared to go home and warmed up, but recommended to seek a medical check-up the following day.”

The Tavistock Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team relies on donations and grants to operate and asks for contributions to its website, or Just Giving page: https://shorturl.at/8KAG2