Woman in sea rescued by police

A 19-year-old woman was rescued by police officers who waded into the sea in Exmouth at the weekend.

Police were called at 7.30pm on Sunday 6 October by the woman’s friend who was concerned about her walking out to sea.

Two officers from the Force Support Group, based in Exeter, were in the area at the time and rushed to The Esplanade area of the town.

When PC Grahame Bailey and PC Geoff Howell arrived they spoke to the friend who pointed out where she was.

The officers ran in to the sea until they could reach the woman. The pair grabbed her around 50 metres out, where they were up to their necks with water. They carried her back to the beach and put her in their police van to warm up until the ambulance arrived.

PC Bailey said: “We’ve both had life-saving training and are confident swimmers so we didn’t think twice about going into the water. Our main concern was to get her out as quickly as possible.”