A rescue was launched to help save a person stuck in the mud near Southend Pier.

RNLI Southend volunteer crews were paged yesterday afternoon (February 6) at 4.05pm, when they received reports of a person stuck in the mud.

Acting swiftly, teams launched their hovercraft from the RNLI Southend Lifeboat Station and carried out a search.

The hovercraft was soon able to locate the person who had got stuck and return them safely to shore, where the ambulance service were waiting to treat the casualty.

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A spokesperson from the team, said: "The volunteer crew were paged this afternoon at 16:05 to launch the Hovercraft from the RNLI Southend Lifeboat station.

"The asset was launched to reports of a person stuck in the mud close to the pier. The hovercraft was able to quickly locate the person and return them safely to shore where the ambulance service were waiting to treat the casualty.

"The hovercraft was washed down, refuelled, rehoused and made ready for service again before the volunteer crew were stood down.

"Remember - if you see anyone in difficulties in or around the water, call 999 and ask for the coastguard. The RNLI crew are ready to respond to the pager 24 hours a day, 7days a week."