Worthing seafront officers have warned people about the dangers of blow-up airbeds and dinghies after four youngsters drifted out to sea.

Both incidents happened at Worthing during the Bank Holiday weekend.

In the first incident on Sunday, two boys aged seven or eight were seen paddling and drifting out to sea in a blow-up dinghy towing a rubber tyre.

The children drifted about 200 yards out to sea before before they were rescued by seafront officers.

Foreshore inspector Tim Smalley said: "We went out to them in a boat and helped them back in.

"We had to strongly advise their parents, who said they hadn't realised the dangers of letting them out on the inflatable."

The second incident took place at about 5pm yesterday when two 17-year-olds were seen drifting past the end of Worthing Pier in an 8ft inflatable dinghy.

Again, seafront officers went out in a boat and warned them to come back in.

Mr Smalley said: "Luckily enough the tide was coming in so there was not so much danger of them being taken out to sea.

"People do not seem to be getting the message about how dangerous inflatables can be in inshore waters. It is very easy to be blown out by the wind and people should be more careful."

In other incidents, the Littlehampton lifeboat was called out to help a boat which broke down four miles off Bognor with five people on board. The vessel, Firedive, was towed into Selsey.

Littlehampton lifeboat was launched again after a report of an electrical fire on the speedboat Chapper off Elmore, near Bognor. The lifeboat towed the vessel into Littlehampton harbour.