Boys' rescue a 'stark' safety warning, says RNLI

A lifeboat commander who helped rescue five boys said he was shocked to discover the youngest was just six.

The children were rescued half a mile (0.8km) offshore after they were reported missing near the Shoeburyness Boom, a coastal defence barrier, on Shoebury East Beach in Essex at 16:45 BST on Sunday.

RNLI volunteer commander Jonathan Charnock said: "Seeing the one who was so young, the same age as my son - it sort of hit home actually, what it was that we were dealing with."

None of the youngsters, aged up to 14, had mobile phones, some were not wearing shoes and they had strayed into a military firing area after becoming trapped by the rising tide.

Southend-on-Sea RNLI launched its hovercraft and brought the children, who were uninjured, back to shore and their waiting parents.

Charnock told the BBC the youngsters had made their way across the sands to find somewhere to swim.

He explained that only part of East Beach, close to a Ministry of Defence firing range, is open to the public and the group had "inadvertently gone into the firing range area".

Charnock said it was fortunate that the youngsters had decided to turn back to shore when they did as there "could have been a very different outcome".

He added it had been a "stark reminder" that children need supervision "on the beach or in the water".

He said the children could have easily cut their feet on oyster beds or litter.

"I believe that they told their parents roughly where they were going to go, but I think they then went further than where the parents were expecting and certainly beyond the timeframe they were expecting as well," he added.

Charnock said there was a "bit of an education problem, particularly with understanding your local area".

"Much of Southend has large tidal flats that do cover twice a day and the tide comes in quite quickly."

He said day trippers who were not familiar with the area could "very quickly get into trouble".

Do you have a story suggestion for Essex? Contact us below.

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.