Water scooter guide rescues five people from sinking boat

A water scooter guide rescued five people after their boat sank off the coast of East Sussex on Monday.

Steve Hopson, from Newhaven, took each person to the shore of Seaford Beach at a time on his scooter after their vessel capsized in sudden bad weather.

Speaking to BBC Radio Sussex, he said: "If you see people struggling, you’ve got to always go and help them."

HM Coastguard said it received multiple 999 calls just after 14:40 BST on Monday and that the five people rescued were handed over to South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb).

Secamb said three people were assessed and treated at the scene and one patient was taken to hospital in Brighton for further treatment.

Mr Hopson leads water scooter tours for Maverick Boat Adventures based at Newhaven Marina and was with two customers on Monday afternoon.

The group rode out to sea barrier Splash Point at the end of Seaford Beach when the calm weather began to turn.

He said: "I’d gone as far as there but didn’t want to go any further because visibility was quite low and the waves were starting to grow."

Trainee RNLI volunteer Mr Hopson said he noticed something unusual in the distance which then quickly disappeared.

He said: "I wasn’t sure what it was in the distance, and turned around two seconds later it was gone.

"I headed over to investigate and found five people - all wearing their lifejackets, thankfully - in the water."

The trainee RNLI volunteer took each person in the water to the shore individually while the two novices on his tour stayed with the rest of the party.

"I was grateful for that the customers were there with me because it gave me extra buoyancy to keep the guys afloat," he added.

RNLI lifeboat operations manager at Newhaven and Brighton Roger Cohen MBE said: "We are happy to have someone who shares our lifesaving values joining our crew.

"We’d also like to remind anyone who sees someone who is in trouble at sea to call 999 and ask for the Coastguard."

Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook on X and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.