Police rescue: Cop car gets bogged on Australian beach

Officers from Western Australia Police had to call on the public for help after getting their sedan stuck on a beach.

The Toyota Camry patrol car was driven onto Wharton Beach near Esperance on the south coast – a popular spot for holidaymakers to take four-wheel-drives.

However, the Toyota Camry – which is not designed for off-road use due to its low ground clearance, low profile road tyres, and two-wheel-drive rather than all-wheel-drive system – became stuck in soft sand.

Images and a video posted to social media – with more than 50,000 views at the time of writing – show the Western Australia police car eventually being rescued by an Isuzu MU-X driven by a good samaritan private citizen.

Some social media comments were brutal about the embarrassing mishap: "And to think they let these guys carry guns," was one comment.

While it's not recommended to drive onto sand in any two-wheel-drive car, one local came to the defence of the police officers on Facebook, pointing out it is sometimes possible at Wharton Beach for normal cars to drive on the beach – but only when there is hard sand, such as when the tide recedes.

"[I] used to take my (Holden) Commodore on the beach all the time [and] never got bogged,” one Facebook commenter wrote.

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It appears local police took the criticism with good humour.

"Esperance Police would like to welcome [Senior Constable] Neville to the team who started today and found a new way to engage with our wonderful local community," a Facebook post read.

"Thanks to those who gave the guys a hand. Reach out so we can let you know when the guys pay their coffee and cake 'fine'.

"Thankfully no one [was] injured and no damage to the car, [just] their egos are in for repair."