Candles lit for youngsters who drowned off Bournemouth beach at Sea Sunday service

ITV Meridian's Richard Slee reports from the memorial service in Bournemouth.

A church service has been held in honour of Sunnah Khan and Joe Abbess, who drowned in the sea in Bournemouth in May.

Local people came together for the annual 'Sea Sunday' event, which also honours those who work at sea.

Sunnah's grandmother Susan Green attended after laying flowers at the beach: "It is really important that we are here today to be with everyone here," she said.

"We didn't know about Sea Sunday until we had our own tragedy where we lost someone at sea so we wanted to be here. 

"It's so lovely that the town of Bournemouth is coming together to pay tribute to Sunnah and also to Joe.

12 year old Sunnah Khan and Joe Abbess, who was 17, were two of ten people pulled from the water that afternoon.

How they got into difficulty is still not clear.

Many of the people attending the service were involved in the rescue operation.  

Among those leading the service was the Rev Chris Colledge from National Coastwatch.  

He said: "This afternoon is about the community of Bournemouth recognising and respecting and remembering how cruel the sea can be and especially we are bringing all this together on the Sea Sunday which is certainly different this year with that recent major incident."

The loss of Sunnah and Joe has had a huge impact on this life saving community - and it's hoped the service provided some comfort to their families.