A HUGE rescue operation saw emergency services face a race against time to rescue a vulnerable man trapped in mud, chest high in water in the Thames Estuary.

Coastguards, lifeboats, police, fire crews, and paramedics all swarmed to Thorney Bay Caravan Park after reports that a man had jumped over a sea wall and into the water at around 4pm.

Emergency services said they only had about half an hour to save the man, believed to be aged around 25, as the tide was rapidly rising with the man up to his  chest in water 75 meters from shore.

Crowds gathered at the bay to watch the huge operation, as the police helicopter hovered overhead.

Chief inspector Lesley Ford, district commander for Castle Point, said: "This was an extremely difficult situation for the police and other partners to deal with, exacerbated by the fact that the water was rising, placing both the man in the water and emergency responders at greater risk.

"I applaud the selfless and courageous acts of the officers and other first responders who brought this incident to a safe conclusion.”

He was treated for hypothermia by paramedics on shore and taken to hospital with cuts to his arm and leg.

The alarm was initially raised by PCSO Kirsty Dean who was in the area at the time.