Coastguard teams helped rescue a man who had fallen off a boat and into the water, clinging on for 20 minutes.

The Southend Coastguard crew were alerted to the incident near Wallasea Island in the River Crouch this afternoon.

The RNLI-Burnham on Crouch team were tasked to the casualty with the Essex Police Marine Unit standing by ready to assist if needed.

Thanks to the efforts of all involved, the RNLI crew were able to extract the casualty out of the water before the ambulance service put them onto a stretcher.

This came just as Southend Coastguard were arriving on scene having travelled from Shoebury.

Southend Coastguard received a brief from the RNLI crew as the casualty was transferred into an ambulance and taken to Southend Hospital for further care.

It came just after a kite surfer was saved from the water off the coast in Shoebury, having got into difficulty around 2.40pm.

The kite surfer had got into difficulty around 700 metres off the shoreline - east of West Beach slipway - and was pulled from the water by a hovercraft. 

Thankfully they were not in need of any further medical assistance.

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The coastguard also helped evacuate a patient from the beach off Eastern Esplanade.

The casualty was treated in an ambulance around 8.40am this morning.

A spokesperson from Southend Coastguard, said: "Thanks to RNLI-Burnham on Crouch and the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust - we wish the casualty a quick and full recovery.

"Should you see anyone in trouble on or near the coast, don’t hesitate to dial 999 and ask for the coastguard, you could save someone’s life."