A DROWNING man was minutes from death when he was pulled from the sea in a dramatic rescue.

The alarm was raised just after 5pm on Sunday when a man who had been drinking got into serious trouble off the Naze coast in Walton.

He had drifted about 250 metres away from the shore.

Tendring Council beach patrol member Luke Hood was sent after the man on a waterbike and reached him just in time.

The man was extremely weak and it was estimated he could only have survived another ten minutes in the water on his own.

He was hauled on to the back of the waterbike and rushed ashore.

A separate rescue soon afterwards saw Clacton beach patrol member Scott Lawrence injure himself as he pulled a man out the water.

The man, aged in his 40s, jumped into the sea off Clacton Pier at about 7.30pm on Sunday.

Lifesaver Scott pulled the man onto a waterbike and got him to the shore, where he was treated by paramedics and taken to Colchester General Hospital.

Scott also had to head to hospital, having suffered a tear to his calf muscle during the rescue.

Read the full story, including an eyewitness account, in the Clacton Gazette.