Southend rescue: Boy among seven people saved by coastguard

A 10-year-old boy was among people who had become stranded when the tide came in

Seven people, including a 10-year-old boy, had to be rescued from the sea after getting stuck in mud when the tide came in.

The incident happened at 16:30 BST on Tuesday in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.

HM Coastguard Southend originally responded to reports four people had become stranded, before three others were found further offshore.

Two people were taken to hospital for observation while the others, including the boy, were treated at the scene.

They had suffered minor lacerations.

The original group had become stuck opposite the Adventure Island theme park.

Two people had to be taken to hospital for observation after the rescue

As well as the coastguard, emergency services including the RNLI Southend lifeboat hovercraft and a specialist mud rescue team also attended the incident.

Three people were picked up by the RNLI hovercraft from 600ft (183m) offshore.

The other four casualties managed to make their own way back to the beach.