LIFEGUARDS had been withdrawn from a North-East beach where an eight-year-old boy lost his life at the weekend because they were too expensive, it emerged last night.

Jordan Moon, from Hartlepool, was playing with a friend on the shore at the packed seaside resort of Seaton Carew when a wave swept him out to sea.

Police said he was with his mother, and half a dozen relatives and friends on the sands when tragedy struck on Saturday.

Police Sergeant Sue Knights said: "It was a lovely day at the beach. There were a lot of families down there.

"Jordan had gone to the beach with his family, had gone into the water with a friend. They were swimming in the water when a large wave came in. When the friend turned round, Jordan was gone."

A rescue helicopter was on exercise minutes away at Scarborough when Jordan was swept out to sea and the alarm was raised. The helicopter plucked him from the sea and flew him to the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, where, despite continued attempts to resuscitate him, he died with his mother at his side.

Emergency services said there was a heavy swell, with breakers up to 8ft high.

Both the all-weather and inshore lifeboats were launched in the search for Jordan. One lifeboatman likened the effect of a breaker hitting the child as a "brick wall" falling on top of him.

Hartlepool Borough Council withdrew the lifeguards at Seaton Carew in 2001 in a bid to make savings of £100,000.

And last night the council faced calls to reinstate the lifeguards immediately.

At the same time as Jordan was being swept out to sea at Seaton Carew, lifeguards at Saltburn beach were warning families not to swim.

Independent Hartlepool councillor Stan Kaiser said: "The tragedy might have been avoided if we had our lifeguards on Seaton Carew beach.

"To attract visitors to the beach we must provide the appropriate services and in this case that means lifeguards.

"They should never have been removed, and a considerable number of people in Seaton fought to stop them being removed. But, unfortunately, this council decided against the people."

Mike Craddy, secretary to Hartlepool Lifeboat, said: "It was a tragedy waiting to happen."

No one was available from Hartlepool council last night.

However, at the time the authority said it had been forced to make the decision because it could not interest local companies in sponsoring the scheme.

Jordan's death was not the only tragedy on the east coast at the weekend. A ten-year-old boy was swept out to sea at Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire.

* Seven people had to be rescued by a lifeboat and coastguards at Reighton, near Scarborough, on Saturday, including 13-year-old twins.

A coastguard spokesman said the bathers had been caught out by the strong out-going tide.

"We urge bathers to check the tide tables and to take greater care, especially when there is a breeze or an out-going tide," he said.

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