A MAN was taken to hospital after being found clinging to a dinghy without a life jacket on.

Thames Coastguard received a call from vessel Scintilla at 9.10pm last night, stating that there was a man in the water holding on to a dinghy in the Walton Channel near Stone Point.

The man was not wearing a life jacket and the person on the radio was unable to help him.

The Harwich RNLI Inshore Lifeboat was sent to the scene and rescued the man before taking him to Titchmarsh Marina, near Walton-on-the-Naze where he was met by Walton Coastguard and the ambulance service.

He was treated for hypothermia and taken to Colchester Hospital.