Young girls on bodyboards rescued at Saltburn beach

The girls, aged just six, eight, were spotted by lifeguards off Saltburn beach drifting out of the red and yellow flagged safe swimming area.

One of the girls managed to head back towards the shore but two of them continued to drift around 150m out with one struggling to keep her head above water.

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Luckily lifeguards on duty in the area were able to make a rescue on Saturday.

RNLI lifeguard Harvey Deluce, who headed out on a rescue board to retrieve the girls, said: “Paddling out I saw that the girls has started to split up. One of them managed to direct herself onto a sandbank and get safely back to shore, however, the other two young girls were unable to make any progress.

“The youngest of the casualties started to panic and was fighting to keep her head above water.”

Once both girls had been rescued and taken onto the rescue board they paddled safely back to shore.

All three were assessed and found not to have been injured. Their guardians were given safety advice.

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Harvey added: “We always recommend that members of the public swim at a lifeguarded beach between the red and yellow flags.

 “Offshore winds are unpredictable. To know when the wind is offshore, keep an eye out for the orange windsock on lifeguarded beaches, this will indicate which way the wind is blowing.”

The RNLI reminds anyone who finds themselves in trouble in the water to tilt their head back with their ears submerged, try to relax, control their breathing, use their hands to stay afloat, and then tru to call for help or swim to safety.