Police appealing for witnesses after man dies following paddleboard incident in Hampshire

Police are appealing for witnesses after a man died in a paddleboarding incident off Lepe beach in Hampshire.

The 51-year-old man died after a family who were paddle-boarding had to be rescued from the sea.

The man was reported unconscious in the sea at Lepe Beach, off Exbury in the New Forest in Hampshire, after 2pm on Saturday.

Cowes and Calshot Lifeboats volunteer crew arrived to offer assistance to two teenagers and a woman. A fourth male casualty was being airlifted to hospital when the lifeboat arrived. Cowes RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) lifeboat was also launched to assist during the incident.

Police confirmed the man was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital but later died.

The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file is being prepared for the coroner.

A RNLI spokeswoman said: “RNLI lifeboats from Calshot and Cowes were launched following reports of a family in difficulty during a paddle-boarding incident on Lepe Beach.

“Calshot RNLI lifeboat D-class was paged at 2.10pm and the Atlantic 85 lifeboat was paged 2.38pm.

“The volunteer crew arrived to offer assistance to two teenagers and a lady. A fourth casualty was being airlifted to hospital when the lifeboat arrived.”

A Hampshire police spokeswoman said: “We were called to a report that a man was unconscious in the sea at Lepe Beach, Exbury.

“The 51-year-old man was transported to Southampton General Hospital but despite the best efforts of emergency services was pronounced dead.

“Enquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.”