Sea swimmer spotted 'clinging to pier' is rescued

The lifeboat was despatched after lifeguards spotted a swimmer in trouble

A sea swimmer was rescued by a lifeboat crew after becoming "exhausted" and clinging on to the end of a pier.

Lowestoft Lifeboat said the man was spotted struggling by beach lifeguards, who alerted the rescue crew at 15:20 BST on Monday.

Second coxswain Karl Jackson said the swimmer told how he had been holding on to the South Pier at Lowestoft, Suffolk, for about 15 minutes.

The swimmer was rescued using a lifeboat crane and taken safely to shore, where he was checked over by paramedics.

Mr Jackson said: "As soon as we got to the pier head we could see him, so I manoeuvred the lifeboat closer, and the crew threw him a line.

"They then pulled him towards the lifeboat and using the recovery davit brought him on to the deck.

"He was a middle-aged man who had been swimming on his own from the beach and drifted with the tide, not realising the current was taking him or how strong it was."

The swimmer was spotted struggling as he clung to the end of the south pier (on the right) in Lowestoft

The swimmer had suffered a "few scrapes and cuts" but "seemed alright", Mr Jackson added.

Mike Robbins, who works for the RNLI in Lowestoft, said conditions in the sea can be "deceiving" and the swimmer had told lifeboat staff he wasn't aware how fast the water had been moving.

"Where he was clinging on to the pier, it was a little bit choppy and he was having to work hard to stay holding the pier," he said.

He advised swimmers to only go in to the water at lifeguarded beaches and to stay close to the shore.