Beach death a 'tragic accident'

Sussex Police have said there will be no further police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a man at West Wittering beach. The 32-year-old from Sutton in Surrey had been rescuing a child whose rubber ring had drifted out away from the shoreline.

Officers were called to the scene by the ambulance service at 12.10pm on Saturday 26th May. A 32-year old man from Sutton and a woman from Guildford had gone into the water entered the water to help a five-year-old girl who was being carried away by the tide.

The police said the man managed to reach the girl and passed her to the woman who brought the child back to her family on the shore. However the man was unable to get back to shore himself. Other beach-goers managed to get him out of the water, but he was unconscious.

Members of the public and the emergency services tried to resuscitate the man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The girl involved was visiting West Wittering with her family on a visit from North West London. Neither the man nor woman involved in the rescue knew the family.