A MAN was rescued by a beach patrol team after he collapsed and fell backwards into the sea off a pier.Clacton beach patrol members John Shipman and Eddie Vaughan-Chatfield pulled the unconscious man from the water close to Clacton Pier yesterday morning.

A MAN was rescued by a beach patrol team after he collapsed and fell backwards into the sea off a pier.

Clacton beach patrol members John Shipman and Eddie Vaughan-Chatfield pulled the unconscious man from the water close to Clacton Pier yesterday morning.

The drama unfolded at about 11.30am when the victim, who was diabetic and had been drinking, collapsed and fell backwards into the sea.

When Mr Vaughan-Chatfield and Mr Shipman, of the Clacton beach patrol team, reached him he was unconscious and under the water.

The pair managed to get him to the beach and clear his airway while they waited for ambulance crews to arrive.

Essex Air Ambulance flew the man, who was in his late forties, to Colchester General Hospital where he was expected to make a full recovery.