Man rescued from sea off Sunderland thanks to sharp-eyed angler

A man was rescued from the sea off Sunderland last night thanks to a sharp-eyed angler.

Emergency services including the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) were called to the seafront just before midnight on Tuesday, June 27, after reports of a man in the water close to Roker Pier.

A Sunderland RNLI lifeboat station statement said: "Our volunteers were paged by UK Coastguard following reports of a man in the water near to Roker Pier.

"On arrival, Coastguard Rescue officers from Sunderland Coastguard Rescue Team liaised with a fisherman who had maintained visual contact with the person and directed the lifeboat to his location.

"The lifeboat crew were then able to quickly locate the man and assist him back to the beach. He was transferred into the care of Paramedics from NEAS."

An RNLI spokesperson praised the anger for possibly saving the man's life: "While it is unclear how the casualty entered the water we are all extremely grateful to the fisherman who reported the incident and maintained visual contact until the emergency services arrived to take over.

"Without this, the outcome of today's incident may not have been as successful."

A NEAS spokesperson said: "We received a call at 11.59pm last night, Tuesday, June 27, to reports of a person in the water at Roker Pier in Sunderland.

"We dispatched one ambulance crew and a crew from our Hazardous Area Response Team, who supported our colleagues at Northumbria Police, RNLI Sunderland, and HM Coastguard.

"One patient was then taken to the Sunderland Royal Hospital for further treatment."