A LIFEGUARD has been praised for his "textbook" actions in saving a teenage refugee from drowning.

Ben Campion, 22, rushed to the aid of the Kosovan refugee after he got into difficulties off the coast at Saltburn, east Cleveland, at about 2pm on Wednesday.

Mr Campion plunged into the water with a surfboard and caught up with the unnamed 17-year-old, who had swum out too far and was suffering from cramps and mild hypothermia.

The lifeguard, who is a former competitive swimmer, grabbed the struggling teenager and helped him back to the beach where he and his colleague, Andrew Catterson wrapped him in blankets.

By the time an ambulance arrived, he was beginning to recover, and did not need hospital treatment.

Mr Campion, a chemistry student at Loughborough University, said it was his most dramatic rescue in six years of working as a lifeguard during his holidays.

"I have rescued people before, but it has never been as serious as this," he said.

"When we saw him about 100 odd metres off, we decided to go out, but by the time we got all the rescue gear together, he was about 300m off shore.

"It's quite difficult to catch up with someone when they are that far out."

Mr Campion said that while anyone in his position would have done the same, he is nevertheless proud of his actions.

"I was really pleased," he said. "It's nice to get an opportunity to do something good for someone."

Rescue supervisor Jim Beckett said Mr Campion saved the refugee's life.

"Ben did a great job. He acted quickly and certainly saved the lad's life. It was textbook hypothermia treatment and a slick rescue," he said.

Mr Beckett said the fine weather has resulted in a slight increase in the number of incidents this summer. "We've had about 40 odd incidents at Redcar, and 20 odd at Saltburn, including just speaking to people and stopping them from doing dangerous things.

"We don't want to stop people enjoying themselves but our service is proactive - we make incidents minor because we jump in early enough," he said