A teenager has been praised by the lifeguard for raising the alarm after he saw a kayaker appearing to signal for help while in the sea.

Crews from Southend were called out to East Beach around 2.40pm today amid reporters a kayaker had got into difficulty in the water.

They arrived to find the kayaker moored to a buoy 200metres out at sea and fishing.

Officers spoke to a teenager called Josh and his friend who insisted they had seen the person floating too close to Shoebury Boom and waving their arms in the air for help.

An off-duty National Coast Watch (NCI) officer had also seen the kayaker seemingly in distress.

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The RNLI was sent out to speak to the kayaker who confirmed they were not in need of assistance and the teams were then stood down.

Despite the false alarm, the coastguard has praised Josh for calling them out.

A spokesman said: “Whilst we cannot know why the kayaker was waving their arms initially, as confirmed by two separate members of the public, Southend Coastguard would like to thank Josh and his friend for doing the right thing and calling 999 and asking for the Coastguard.

“They were concerned they had wasted resources but also said they could not walk away and leave someone in case they were in distress.

“So whilst this was a false alarm with good intent, Josh and his friend did exactly the right thing today, well done.”