TWO teenage girls from Ipswich were rescued from a rip tide by lifeguards after they went swimming outside the patrolled area at Sea Palling in Norfolk.

Yarmouth Coastguard answered a 999 call from a member of the public just before midday today, reporting that two children were being dragged out to sea in a rip tide at Sea Palling, 15 miles north of Great Yarmouth.

The mother of one of the children had run into the sea to try and reach them.

Yarmouth Coastguard immediately called the RNLI Lifeguards who patrol the beach. They launched their beach rescue boat and quickly found the two 14-year-old girls.

One had been reached by the mother who was wading ashore with her. The other, who was further out, was pulled from the water by the RNLI lifeguard boat.

The girls, both from the Ipswich area, were uninjured. They had been swimming outside the lifeguard patrol area safety flags on the beach.

Yarmouth Coastguard is calling for beach-goers to be careful and reminding everyone to use beaches with lifeguards and make sure they only swim between the flags.

Mario Siano, Yarmouth Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre watch manager, said: “These girls were very lucky, although Sea Palling is a lovely area to visit, tides between the man-made reefs can be very strong and have created lagoons with unstable, steep sandy sides that can cause people to lose their footing.

“Part of Sea Palling beach is patrolled by RNLI lifeguards, but the girls were swimming outside the red and yellow flag area.

“If you are heading to the beach, my top five beach safety tips are – Swim at a lifeguarded beach, between the red and yellow flags, never use inflatables toys in strong winds or rough seas, check tide times before you go, if you get into trouble, stick your hand in the air and shout for help, if you see someone else in trouble, tell a lifeguard if you’re on a lifeguarded beach. If you can’t see a lifeguard, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard.”