A man is still missing after he was seen walking into the sea fully clothed.

Emergency services were called to Brighton beach near Black Rock on Friday after a member of the public spotted the man walking into the waves at around 11am.

A helicopter and two lifeboats arrived at the scene and one rescuer saw the man bobbing in the rough water.

But searchers lost sight of the individual – and he has not yet been rescued or recovered.

The alarm was first raised by a member of the public metal detecting on the beach, which was windy and overcast yesterday morning.

He said: “The bloke looked about 30 or 40. I was with my metal detector when I saw him wandering into the sea with all his clothes on.

“The waves were so high I thought I’d better call the police. The current would just have pulled him under.

“I’m worrying for him now because the sea looks so dangerous.”

Scores of bystanders stood watching as a coastguard helicopter made low passes over the water to try to spot the missing man.

Two lifeboats also scoured the scene for nearly three hours before coastguards and the RNLI called off the search shortly after 2pm.

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said the man appeared to be white and in his thirties but his motive for entering the sea remains unknown.

Officers are now making enquiries to discover the man’s identity.

A spokesman for Brighton RNLI said: “A thorough and extensive search was conducted by all teams both east and west of the original location, with the majority of the search focused eastwards due to the tidal drift.

“After approximately an hour and a half of searching, the rescue helicopter was stood down, due to needing to refuel and having exhaust-ed all possible search areas.

“Both Brighton lifeboat and the coastguard shore-based team continued combing the area but after two hours of searching and no persons found the decision was made by the coastguard to release all teams to return to their respective bases.”