A MAN was rescued from the sea off Chesil Beach after going for a swim in dangerous waters.

The 22-year-old was airlifted to hospital after the speedy arrival of the Portland Coastguard rescue helicopter.

Friends of the swimmer alerted coastguards after he became stuck in the surf line yesterday afternoon.

He had entered the sea wearing only board shorts and was found to be ‘extremely cold’ after the rescue.

Portland Coastguard said it would have been a “different story” if it had not been for the nearby rescue helicopter.

Portland resident Gary Cooper witnessed the rescue from his window and said it demonstrated the importance of the local service.

Mr Cooper, of Amelia Close, added: “My daughter and I saw the whole thing. We saw the helicopter arrive over the sea off Chesil Beach in the bit between Wyke Regis and Portland.

“I used my binoculars and saw a line drop down from the helicopter and what looked like a man being pulled from the sea.

“Hopefully the man will be okay and it just demonstrates how important our local rescue helicopter service is.”

A spokesman for Portland Coastguard said: “We received a report of a 22-year-old man in the water caught in the surf line off Chesil Beach.

“He was being dragged back out to sea after deciding to go for a swim and could not get back out.

“Swimming in these waters is not advised but the man decided to.

“His friends who were on the beach alerted us to the situation at around 1.10pm.

“The man had got into trouble in the sea behind the visitor information centre on Portland Beach Road.

“If it hadn’t been for the nearby rescue helicopter it would have been a different story.

“After he was rescued he was alright, just extremely cold. He was taken to hospital straight away.”

Campaigners to put pressure on Transport Secretary

CAMPAIGNERS will urge Transport Secretary Justine Greening to think again over the future of a local rescue helicopter when she visits Weymouth and Portland on Monday.

Ms Greening is due to visit the national sailing academy on Portland where she will hear about transport preparations for the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer.

South Dorset MP Richard Drax has arranged to meet the minister and will ask her to rethink a decision to scrap both the search and rescue helicopter and the coastguard co-ordination centre.

Portland Coastguard centre will close by the end of March 2015 and an island-based helicopter looks set to be withdrawn in 2017.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency workers based at Portland Coastguard station who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union did not stage a lightning strike yesterday.

The union has called for industrial action in protest at plans to close UK coastguard stations.

PCS members at Portland Coastguard made themselves available for emergency calls but did not take any routine calls for an hour.

A coastguard source said: “They struck a balance of supporting the general principles of the strike while not walking out of the workplace.”

The MCA said contingency plans are in place if staff choose to support one-hour lightning strikes over the next week.