Huge emergency response after four people get into difficulty in water near Shoreham

A huge emergency response has been launched after four people got into difficulty in the water near Shoreham Harbour on Tuesday afternoon. Sussex Police said emergency services were called to the incident close to Shoreham Port and urged the public to stay clear of the area while the response remained ongoing. A section of the A259 in Shoreham was also closed.

HM Coastguard said it responded to an incident reported at about 14:45, sending a Coastguard helicopter along with rescue teams from Littlehampton, Shoreham and Newhaven and an RNLI lifeboat from Shoreham. The RNLI said its Shoreham crew was tasked at approximately 15:00, while two lifeboats were also launched from Brighton shortly after 15:00. South East Coast Ambulance Service said it was called shortly after 15:00 to reports of four people needing medical attention after getting into difficulty in the water and had a number of ambulance resources at the scene.

A large number of emergency vehicles and helicopters were reported around Shoreham Port and Harbour. Authorities have not yet released details about the nature of the difficulty the four people were experiencing.