HEARTS melted on the seafront yesterday at the sight of a young lifeguard helping an elderly lady to the shoreline to have a paddle.

Jake Walker, 23, was captured on a passerby’s phone as he held hands with the woman, carefully assisting her as she negotiated the pebbly terrain.

Jake, who is stationed near the i360 on Brighton seafront, said: “We were just sitting at our post, it was quite quiet, there wasn’t really anyone in the sea.

“This lady came around the front and asked if someone could help her get down the steep shingle, because she wanted to have a little paddle in the sea.

“I just said ‘I’ll give you a hand’ and we just walked down, she had a little paddle and I walked her back up.”

The lifeguard chatted to the woman as they walked.

Jake said: “She was from North London and she had a rosette on so I asked her what it was for and it was the Townswomen’s Guild, she’d come down for a convention.

“It doesn’t happen every day, but pretty regularly we help with this kind of thing.

“We are always happy to help anyone who asks.”

Jake’s picture with the visitor was posted on the Brighton People Facebook page by Heaven-Leigh Rose Ellison, who said: “I just wanted to share a moment that absolutely made my day.”

The post has been liked more than 2,300 times.

Jake’s manager Charlie Branson, 36, said: “This is a great nod to Jake and his personality in general. He is a great guy and solid lifeguard, he’s a really strong lad, he’s got a good head on his shoulders and he’s helpful and kind. I think it’s great he’s got a little bit of recognition. He didn’t know that picture was being taken, he was just helping a little old lady.”