Beach Patrol staff at Walton rescued a woman from the sea just two weeks after being involved in saving a woman and her dog from drowning at a similar spot.

Kayleigh Grant and Steve Duggan went to the aid of a 54-year-old from London after she went into the water off Walton Pier on Saturday afternoon (April 5).

The pair - who are part of Tendring District Council's (TDC) Beach Patrol team at the seaside resort - went out to the casualty in their rescue boat at 4.15pm.

The woman had been in the water about ten minutes and was staying afloat by using a lifebelt which had been thrown to her by Barry Vaughan who works on the pier.

Kayleigh and Steve managed to drag the woman into the boat and take her ashore where they were met by members of Walton Lifeboat crew and Coastguards.

The woman was wrapped in blankets until paramedics arrived and took her to hospital by ambulance.

Kayleigh, 21, was first alerted to the danger by her sister who was on the Pier fishing with her partner and saw the woman go into the water. She called her on her mobile phone to let her know what had happened.

"Steve and I immediately launched the boat and went straight to her," said Kayleigh. "Luckily she was not that far out and we went alongside and got her into the boat. It was not easy as she was dead weight being soaking wet.

"The woman was very cold and shaking like anything after being in the sea for ten minutes at this time of the year but she was still conscious and talking to us."

Kayleigh and Steve were both involved in helping to rescue a 56-year-old woman from the sea off Walton on Easter Saturday.

On that occasion the woman's dog had been washed off the promenade into the water by a large wave. As the woman was calling to the dog she too got knocked into the sea by a wave.

Kayleigh, Steve, another team member Nick Key and Nigel Speight - who owns a seafront kiosk - managed to save both the woman and the dog.

Pierre Oxley, Portfolio Holder for Leisure at TDC and the Council's Seafront Manager Tim Sutton, both praised the team for their efforts.

"It has been a busy start to the season for them but as always they have done a fantastic job," said Cllr Oxley.

"We are very fortunate to have such an excellent team along our coastline and I cannot thank them enough for what they do."