Storm couple's battle to stay alive

A COUPLE "held on by their fingertips" to a harbour wall and railings to avoid being swept out to sea as a storm whipped up waves.

- Maynard Manyowa

The man and woman were said to be lucky to be alive with dramatic images showing how they desperately fought for their lives.

One witness told how the pair, who allegedly had been fishing on rocks, were "washed" away in the village of Staithes, between Whitby and Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

A number of huge waves were said to have been crashing into the North Yorkshire coast on Sunday afternoon making conditions "pretty rough".