Regarding your article titled "Pair spark pier rescue drama" which appeared in Thursday's paper (The Argus, February 2), I would like to add my perspective as the helmsman in charge of Brighton Lifeboat when the incident occurred on that Wednesday.

The eye-witness account of Mr Darlow contains some inaccuracies which I would like to correct.

We were requested by Solent Coastguard to launch the Brighton Lifeboat. The crew, who are all volunteers, dropped what they were doing, assembled and launched within eight minutes and were on the scene at the West Pier three minutes later.

appeared to be asleep. The police and fire brigade were trying to gain access so we stood by close to the pier in case we were needed.

While waiting, two military helicopters passed overhead.

These were unconnected to the rescue and, in my opinion, had no effect on the men on the walkway and certainly did not panic them, as suggested by Mr Darlow.

After about half an hour, one of the men jumped in to the water on the western side of the walkway, which is close to some debris.

He was lucky not to be injured in the fall. He seemed to go straight underwater and was struggling to swim as he was wearing a long leather coat. There was no call for help as claimed and we reached him in around eight seconds, certainly not the 20 seconds suggested by Mr Darlow.

The lifeboat had to approach with caution as the man was close to the underwater debris. When we pulled him on board, he was in a semi-conscious state so we landed him on the beach immediately, passing him to the care of the paramedics and police.

In my professional opinion, this man would not have been able to reach the beach by himself and, were it not for the lifeboat and her crew, would surely have drowned.

The RNLI is a registered charity which saves lives at sea and provides a 24-hour, on-call service. The RNLI is independent from Government and continues to rely on voluntary contributions and legacies. We're proud of the service we offer the community and consider the service carried out on Wednesday a job well done.

-Mark Nightingale, helmsman, Brighton Lifeboat