A SUNSEEKER was last night fighting for his life in hospital after being plucked from the sea along with three of his friends as the summer heatwave brought near tragedy to the North-East coast.

Steven Graham, 20, was pulled unconscious from the sea by a Sea King helicopter from RAF Leconfield after he fell from a one-man rubber dinghy, which had drifted without paddles almost a mile offshore, near Easington Colliery, County Durham.

He had battled to swim back to shore, but lost consciousness and sank from view.

Six teenage friends saw the accident from the shore. Three swam out to help - but they also got into trouble. They had to be rescued by a lifeboat after scrambling on to rocks.

Tyne Tees coastguard was alerted at about 2.30pm when a friend called 999.

The rescue helicopter was scrambled and the Sunderland lifeboat and a Northumbria Police rigid inflatable boat were diverted from an exercise at Sunderland airshow.

PC Rob Bagshaw dived beneath the waves to pull Mr Graham from the seabed. He was winched into the rescue helicopter and airlifted to the intensive care unit of Middlesbrough General Hospital, where last night he was in a critical condition on a ventilator.

Last night, speaking from the family home in Easington Colliery, Mr Graham's grandmother, Mary, said: "I don't know how this could have happened. He just went down to the coast to enjoy the summer sun with a few friends and this happens. We are stunned."

It was the most dramatic in a series of incidents around the country, in which the sizzling temperatures almost had fatal consequences.

An adult and two children, from Holland, were rescued after their inflatable boat was caught by the wind and blown out to sea from Findhorn in Scotland.

Two children were taken to hospital after being pulled from the water by lifeboatmen close to Sandown Castle beach, near Deal, Kent.

And at Littlestone-on-Sea, Kent, the mother of a six-year-old boy saw the youngster fall from the side of a dinghy.

She dialled 999 and the boy was brought ashore unconscious and taken to hospital. None of the children is thought to be seriously injured.

North Yorkshire and Humber Coastguard said that yesterday had been their busiest day of the year. They were called to deal with 24 incidents between the Humber and north of Whitby.

Meanwhile, police warned about the dangers of mixing alcohol and swimming after a schoolgirl almost drowned during a midnight dip in Darlington.

The 15-year-old got into difficulties after going into the River Tees in the early hours of Sunday in the Blackwell area following a drinking binge.

The youngster was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital suffering from hyperventilation.

Sergeant Graham Charman said: "We would urge anyone drinking during hot weather not to go swimming in rivers, because the temperature of the water is extremely cold and very dangerous."

Yesterday, Britain basked in its hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures soaring to 91F - hotter than Hawaii.

The weather was so hot on Saturday that East Coast mainline passengers faced delays as metal rails expanded in the heat.

Tourist Information Centres in Whitby and Guisborough struggled to find enough accommodation for visitors, and the beaches in Saltburn and Redcar were packed with people.

The heatwave was set to continue today, but forecasters warned that temperatures would begin to cool later in the week.