LIFEBOAT crews were scrambled to find two missing boys - but ended up rescuing a teenager in the mud near the end of Southend Pier.

Southend’s volunteer RNLI lifeboat crew launched their hovercraft at 6.30pm last night followed shortly after by another lifeboat to search for two missing boys, aged ten and 12.

It had been reported that the boys had walked across the mud to the Mulberry Harbour and not been seen for an hour.

However, shortly after launch, the hovercraft was tasked to locate a 19-year-old woman who had walked out on the mud from near the boathouse.

She was found near the pierhead and brought ashore to be met by Coastguards.

The lifeboat continued searching for the boys amid a busy seafront with visitors enjoying the late afternoon sun.  The crew was told to stand down when both boys were reported safe on shore.

A Southend RNLI spokesman said: "Finally, after landing the female ashore, the hovercraft crew was tasked to look for two six-year-old boys missing from Ocean Beach but were also stood down when the children were found on the shore."

Volunteer crews have also issued a plea for people to carefully consider whether they should visit the beach during the current crisis.

The spokesman added: "The RNLI asks everyone to carefully consider the need to go to the beach, the coast or onto the water at this time. Even in these difficult and unprecedented times our RNLI volunteers are still on duty 24/7 and ready to deploy at the sound of the pager."