TEENAGERS who went swimming in the North Sea after drinking alcohol have prompted warnings from the coastguard service.

A number of youngsters were swimming off the promenade at Whitley Bay at 8.15pm last night when the RNLI had to be called into action.

A coastguard spokesman said last night: "There were three females and two males, aged approximately 16 to 17.

"They had taken on amounts of alcohol and then gone into the water. One of them got fairly far out and into difficulty.

"The Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade attended the scene along with the Cullercoats lifeboat. When they arrived the people had got themselves out of the water, but we checked them for hypothermia because they were very cold and had swallowed an amount of water."

The spokesman criticised the teenagers for having drunk alcohol and then gone into the water.

"If there is a safety message it is that drinking alcohol and then going for a swim into the sea is not recommended at any time really," he said.