THE coastguard were called to the waters near Brighton Palace Pier following reports of a person in the water.
Both Brighton Lifeboat Station and Shoreham Lifeboat Station were paged at around 5:20pm this afternoon, along with local coastguards to attend to an incident.The Argus: The helicopter appeared to drop someone down into the waterThe helicopter appeared to drop someone down into the water

Footage from the scene sent to The Argus shows a man being lowered from the helicopter into the choppy waters below. The video appears to show two figures being lifted from the water, before the helicopter left the scene.

Andrew Gibson, who caught the scene on camera from his home at Marine Parade, said: "I could hear the helicopter flying around and it clicked something must be up.

"I couldn't believe someone was in the water today. I've never seen the waves so big and violent. I really hope they're okay."

The coastguard have since left the scene of the incident.

It comes as the Sussex coast is being battered by gusts of up to 49mph as Storm Evert has made its way across southern England.

More information as soon as we have it...

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