A PERSON was left injured and semi-conscious after being thrown from a towed inflatable.

A lifeboat crew was called to a seven-metre long speedboat off Littlehampton on Thursday to help the hurt person.

The team from Littlehampton RNLI arrived to find they were cold and semi-conscious, having suffered a suspected broken finger.

The speedboat, which had another three people on board, had been unable to ferry them back to land as low tide had just passed.

This left the vessel unable to enter the harbour as the water was too shallow.

The injured person and a friend were transferred to the crew’s inshore lifeboat, aptly named Ray of Hope, and taken back to shore where they were passed into the care of ambulance crews.

The two remaining people on the speedboat waited until the water was deep enough before making their way back into the harbour.

The incident prompted Andy Harris, helm of the Ray of Hope, to issue a warning.

He said: “Water temperatures are approximately 18C in the sea around Littlehampton at the moment, but that is still significantly below human body temperature. Coupled with the shock of an unexpected accident and injury, there is a risk of hypothermia even on a hot sunny day.

“Recovering the casualty from the speedboat to shore was important in order that they could receive ongoing medical care from the South East Coast Ambulance Service.”

On Saturday, Coastguard crews across the UK received the highest number of call-outs in four years.