A rescue operation was launched on the Sussex coast after a teenager was stung by a weaver fish.

Sussex Ambulance crews and lifeboatmen rushed to the scene when 17-year-old Carina Dunk was attacked by the fish yesterday afternoon.

The teenager was walking along the beach at Fairlight Glen, near Hastings, with her boyfriend, Josh Symes, and his brother, Sonny, when she decided to stick her toes in the sea.

Unfortunately, a passing weaver fish gave Carina a nasty sting.

Carina, from Sedlescombe Road North, St Leonards, said: "The water was warm so I walked in a bit further and then felt something funny.

"My foot was stuck in one position and I could not move it, it was really stinging and the pain shot up my leg."

While Carina's boyfriend stayed with her, Sonny, who was celebrating his 14th birthday, set off on a mile-and-a-half run through the undergrowth.

After he had raised the alarm, an ambulance tried to get to her, but was cut off by half a mile of soft sand.

The Hastings inshore lifeboat was then called in to save the day, picking up Carina. She was taken by ambulance to the Conquest Hospital.

After treatment she was told to rest the sore leg.

Coxswain at Hastings Charlie Sharrod said: "The spines on weaver fish are very toxic and give a painful sting which can really swell up."