EMERGENCY Services have raised concerns about the possibility of a serious incident occurring at Sully Island if risks continue to be ignored.

This stark warning comes little more than a week after two women had to be rescued from the water, after attempting to swim back from the island.

Lying just 400 yards from the mainland, Sully Island is accessible by foot for much of the day, however access is restricted during high tide when it becomes cut off by water. Multiple warning signs have been put up in the vicinity to alert people of the dangers and a 'traffic light' system was installed in 2014, which indicates when the causeway is safe to cross.

Andy Berry of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) said: "Inevitably it is people who don't take the time to look at tide times who end up in these situations and it's these people we need to educate. People, for whatever reason, won't listen or believe the risks are exaggerated.

"This is the second biggest tidal range in Wales. When the tide comes in, it may not be that deep but it is extremely powerful and at eight or nine knots it is impossible to swim against."

Senior Operations Officer for HM Coastguard Nicola Davies concurred on the importance of additional education to prevent future incidents.

"The people who get into difficulty are not always the same people and it is often a first-time incident for them," said Ms Davies.

"They are often from other areas and do not have the local knowledge about the tides. People are not aware of the dangers, so they don’t understand the risks.

"We need to educate people as much as we can. There is lots of safety information online for people to read. The best thing people can do if they get stuck on Sully Island as the tide is coming in is to stay where they are, dial 999 and ask for the coastguard."

Mike Clogg, Operational Manager for Highways and Engineering and spokesperson for Vale of Glamorgan Council, added: "The council urges visitors to take care when visiting Sully Island, a location from which many people have needed to be rescued over the years.

"The RNLI’s innovative traffic light system on the causeway clearly indicates when it is safe and unsafe to visit the island. Visitors should pay close attention to this guidance to avoid getting into difficulty."

Mr Berry believes the multi-agency work going on between the RNLI, the Coastguard, the National Coast Watch and others has been successful in preventing tragedy from occurring, but says it is even more important to stop members of the public from putting themselves in harm's way, particularly approaching the summer - one of their most challenges periods of the year.

"We want to be able to avoid launching lifeboats altogether, which we can only manage by educating people," he said.

"Last week's incident was almost a tragedy. I don't want to say it's inevitable, but the situation is on a knife edge.

"Last week could easily have ended differently."