SCARED beachgoers say jet skiers speeding too close to swimmers is a “tragedy waiting to happen”.

Andy Farrell, 65, from Westcliff, and his brother were swamped with water in their boat after four jet skiers came speeding towards them.

One of them was said to be driving just three meters away from them, near Westcliff Esplanade.

He’s calling for jet skis to have registration numbers and for drivers to get drug and alcohol tested.

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Andy said: “They were on their jet skis doing doughnuts where they go round and round in aggressive circles.

“We were in my inflatable around 30 metres offshore. We had stopped to refuel and my brother said “oh no here they come”.

“I would say they were doing about 30 knots as they came by us. One of them was about three metres from us and he totally washed us out and swamped us.

“It filled up our inflatable and it was quite choppy out so we had to get back in as quick as we could.

“More and more people are swimming further out. If one of these comes along speeding like that they wouldn’t see the swimmer. It’s a tragedy waiting to happen.

“They are a public nuisance.”

Andy is now calling for more regulations on jet skis to make them accountable for their actions.

He added: “They should have registration numbers so they can be held accountable.

“There should also be drug and drink tests for people who want to use them.”

Jeremy Littlewood, manager of Southend and Canvey Coastguard said: “There are a lot of well behaved jet skiers but there’s always a small minority that can be a problem.

“Historically we haven’t really had any problems with jet skiers but there’s always the potential.

“From a Coastguard point of view we don’t have any legislative powers at all. They would be enforced by Port London Authority.

“Advice to jet skiers would be to try to be considerate and for swimmers to stay within a reasonable a reasonable distance from the beach.”