People urged to avoid swimming in Devon’s coast after two men go missing

People in areas battered by strong winds and rough seas have been told to stay away from the water as two men remain missing.

Christmas Day in East Devon had a tragic ending after two swimmers went missing at Budleigh Salterton yesterday morning.

The emergency services scrambled to the beach at about 10.25am after concern for people in the water.

Several people were safely helped out of the waves and taken to the hospital as a precaution. But two men, aged in their 40s and 60s, were not located despite extensive searches by the coastguard and RNLI.

The search and rescue operations have now concluded and the men remain missing. Their families have been informed, Devon and Cornwall Police said.

A stretch of the South West, including Devon and Cornwall, was under a yellow Met Office weather warning for wind until midnight, with gusts predicted to reach up to 65mph on exposed coasts and hills.

While no further warnings have been issued for today, police urged people not to swim in the sea on Boxing Day.

Detective Superintendent Hayley Costar from the force said: ‘Today, emergency services have been responding to a truly tragic incident in Budleigh Salterton.

‘Our thoughts remain firmly with the families and friends of the two men who are currently missing and to all who may have witnessed and be impacted by the incident.

‘The local community will have seen a significant amount of emergency services in the area throughout the day as extensive enquiries have been ongoing.

‘As dark falls, a number of these searches have been stood down, with some police enquiries on land continuing this evening.

‘There have been weather warnings in place this week and a number of official and unofficial swims have already been cancelled.

‘While there are no official warnings in place for tomorrow, we urge anyone with plans to go swimming in the sea on Boxing Day not to.’

On Boxing Day, a police spokesman said ‘both men remain missing’ following the incident.

He added: ‘Police inquiries are ongoing. A police presence remains at the scene.’

Local resident Julia Robb, who had been watching swimmers at the beach before the men went missing, said: ‘It is just awful.’

She said it had been a ‘very cold and windy’ day where the ‘waves were big, breaking over people and it was jolly’.

She said the waves ‘would have been at least 6ft I would have thought’ and it was only when she later heard helicopters it became clear something was wrong.

Ms Robb added: ‘It was a sad thing to happen on what had been such a positive morning.

‘I just feel sorry for those who have been affected.

‘I think it will be shocking for the whole community. We are a small town. People are very friendly.

‘I think it is important to think of the friends and families of those who have been affected.’

HM Coastguard said it had responded to reports of ‘people in difficulty’ in the water in the Budleigh Salterton area.

Coastguard rescue teams from Exmouth and Beer attended, along with RNLI lifeboats from Exmouth, Teignmouth and Torbay.

Coastguard search and rescue helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, along with police and ambulance personnel were also sent to the scene.

RNLI lifeboat crews helped recover one person from the water.

A spokesman said: ‘All lifeboat crew were stood down by the coastguard around 5pm, when they returned to stations.

‘Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the incident and the family and friends of the two people who are missing.’

A number of Christmas and Boxing Day swims in Devon and Cornwall were cancelled this year because of a yellow weather warning for wind which covered parts of the South West and Wales.

No warnings were issued for Boxing Day but Detective Superintendent Hayley Costar said: ‘We urge anyone with plans to go swimming in the sea on Boxing Day not to.’

Describing the events in Budleigh Salterton as ‘a truly tragic incident’, she had said: ‘Our thoughts remain firmly with the families and friends of the two men who are currently missing and to all who may have witnessed and be impacted by the incident.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.