A BADLY injured man was saved from drowning today after being beaten up and dumped overnight on mudflats by the River Orwell.Children on their school holidays raised the alarm when they saw the 21-year-old helpless and stranded in a remote site under the Orwell Bridge.

A BADLY injured man was saved from drowning today after being beaten up and dumped overnight on mudflats by the River Orwell.

Children on their school holidays raised the alarm when they saw the 21-year-old helpless and stranded in a remote site under the Orwell Bridge.

Before being taken to hospital the victim told rescuers he had been there for some hours after being attacked.

A Suffolk County Council spokesman for the fire service, said if the man had not been found until later in the day the incoming tide could have drowned him.

Police, fire, ambulance and the coastguard service were all involved in the rescue operation near Pond Hall Farm, in Gainsborough Lane, Ipswich, just after 9.30am.

The injured man was pulled to safety by police and fire officers before paramedics arrived, as the water rapidly approached him.

However the full details surrounding how the victim was injured or exactly how long he had been on the mudflats were unclear as police were due to interview the man in hospital today.

The casualty was found in a remote area in Orwell Country Park at the end Gainsborough Lane, a potholed shingle track.

The site is offset from the road and well away from any houses.

Thames Coastguard officer Frank Aubin-Hart said: "At 9.40am we received a call from the ambulance informing us that there was a man underneath the Orwell Bridge with possible injuries.

"Harwich inshore lifeboat and Felixstowe coastguard mud rescue team were also sent and we received information that the ambulance, police and fire brigade were attending.

"A young man gave us the details of where the chap was, but before the lifeboat arrived on the scene, the police and fire staff had rescued the man and he was taken to Ipswich hospital by the Suffolk air ambulance.

"We believe that he had injuries to his leg, but the police later told us he had suffered multiple injuries.

"We were told that he allegedly had been the victim of an assault overnight and had been left there on the foreshore."

James Powell, spokesmen for Suffolk County Council, said: "Some kids spotted the man in the mud and alerted the emergency services.

"A couple of firefighters were the first to arrive and police officers soon after. They got him out then the ambulance arrived, followed by the air ambulance.

"It was a dramatic rescue as the water was coming in so they got to him just at the right time.

"The man was conscious and said he had been there for several hours."

A spokeswoman for Suffolk said that two officers had gone to the hospital to talk to the victim to find out what had happened.