Search for sea rescuer called off

The 33-year-old entered the water to help a girl aged three and a 17-year-old boy, who had got into difficulty close to the entrance of Portsmouth Harbour on Thursday afternoon, Hampshire Constabulary said.

Both the girl, the teenager and another man who dived into the sea to help made it safely to dry land.

But it is believed the missing rescuer, who was last seen close to the harbour entrance, may have been dragged under the surface by strong currents.

A search operation involving lifeboats, a Coastguard helicopter, Ministry of Defence police boats and a Coastguard rescue team was launched shortly after the incident at 3.40pm.

The Coastguard teams temporarily called off their search at about 10pm on Thursday night due to bad light.

A Solent Coastguard spokesman said: “A final coastline search was carried out at sunrise before the search was called off.”