A MAN is recovering in hospital today after a dramatic coastguard rescue in the early hours of the morning.

Thames Coastguard, based at Walton on the Naze, was called out at 2.15am today to assist Essex Police in rescuing a 41-year-old man stranded in water after trying to swim across the river from Rowhedge to Wivenhoe.

A spokeswoman for the coastguard said: “The man, who had been drinking, got caught by the tide and was being taken down the river.”

The RNLI Atlantic lifeboat from Clacton attended along with a rescue helicopter from RAF Wattisham and coastguard rescue units from Clacton and Mersea.

Police officers eventually managed to convince the man to take hold of a life ring and he was pulled from the water, before being taken to Colchester General Hospital at 3.20am to be treated for hypothermia.