A woman was given a stern talking to after she was seen tombstoning in Westcliff only moments after she was stuck 500m out at sea.

Southend's Coastguard team say the woman was struggling half a kilometre off the Westcliff shoreline, before swimming back to safety, only to then tombstone off the nearby Westcliff Bastion yesterday afternoon.

HM Southend Coastguard have said concerned family members called 999 when the woman was stuck out at sea.

The same family member was also seen tombstoning.

An RNLI lifeboat was also dispatched to the scene.

Tombstoning involves jumping vertically from a high structure into the sea below.

READ MORE:

Pictures show forensic teams at scene of 'stabbing'

Coastguard's warning after 'growing casualty list' as thousands descend on beaches

A spokesman from Southend's coastguard team, said: "HM Coastguard Southend then spoke to the persons now 'tombstoning' to explain the dangers and provide some direct safety advice.

"Every year people are seriously injured and even killed by jumping into water from cliffs, rocks or other structures like wharfs, be it Barge Pier, Bell Wharf, Bastions we have nearby."

"There is a reason it's called ’tombstoning’ - don’t be one of the statistics!"