A man was taken to hospital after running into trouble while kite surfing.

His equipment was discovered by members of the Canvey and Southend Coastguard teams as they took part in a planned training assessment at around 6.30pm yesterday evening.

A kite was spotted flapping on the water around a mile from the shoreline, with no sign of the surfer.

The sighting was passed onto Dover Coastguard, who tasked the RNLI Southend Lifeboat, whilst coastguard teams scoured East Beach and West Beach to seek information about the whereabouts of the kite surfer.

Vessels in the vicinity were alerted to the kite, which was drifting towards the site of the SS Montgomery.

The coastguard team discovered that the kite surfer had encountered difficulties after hiring a kite, and other surfers had offered assistance to the stricken surfer who managed to make his way back to the shore.

He was eventually traced at East Beach by coastguards, and was treated by paramedics after ingesting salt water.

The lifeboat crew then retrieved the kite, board, and rigging, and returned them for collection.

Coastguard teams stood down from the incident at 8.45pm and were able to continue with their training assessment.