The footage was posted to file-sharing website YouTube a month ago, and shot by walkers visiting the popular beauty spot.

They, and others at the end of the flooded stretch of road, watch in astonishment as a car quickly approaches the encroaching sea and then drives straight in.

A large wake is thrown up as the vehicle plunges through the tide to get to the safety of the mainland at Beal.

After ploughing through the sea-water, and passing the large warning sign on the way, the driver finally manages to get back onto terra firma.

Although the driver manages to keep to the road, the biggest danger faced is running off the side of the causeway and into the channel, where the water is deep enough to completely submerge the vehicle.

Ian Clayton, operations manager at Seahouses Lifeboat Station, said: "Words continue to fail me, and anyone else who deals with the causeway. If this vehicle had gone off the road, which is invisible once the tide is in, we could have been faced with a very serious rescue incident indeed."

See the footage at www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk.