An Ipswich mum has told of the terrifying moment when her baby was almost swept out to sea by a wave from a passing vessel at Felixstowe beach.

Mum-of-four Netty Finch had gone to the beach near the Martello play area for a day at the seaside with her two daughters aged seven and 19, her goddaughter and her eleven-week-old son, Oliver.

“We set up a beach shelter quite near the wall end of the beach, we weren’t really close to the water,” said Netty, 42.

She told the girls to wait until going into the water until she had finished breastfeeding Oliver in the shelter.

Just after 1.30pm, the wave hit.

“I heard someone screaming, so I peeked around the sun shelter, and saw this massive wave coming, taking out everything it touched,” said Netty.

“It came straight over me and my baby. I shouted to the girls to run, and grabbed my baby by his vest and was holding him above the water.

“It was more powerful as it sucked back in, it dragged me down the beach.

“I was really struggling to hold onto my baby’s vest.

“If I’d have let him go, he’d be dead. It’s that simple."

Harwich Haven Authority has confirmed that the wave was caused by "excessive speed" from a boat after carrying out an investigation.

The family’s possessions were swept out to sea, but they were luckily left unharmed – though shaken.

“I’m so grateful that nothing worse happened,” said Netty. “But if this sort of thing can happen, there needs to be signs up warning parents.

"If you look up Felixstowe, it says it’s a safe beach to take your children – but it’s not.”

Neil Glendinning, chief executive officer, of Harwich Haven Authority, said they were made aware of the large wave at 2pm on Thursday.

He said: “As with any incident we immediately conducted an investigation both internally within our Operations Centre and externally with the vessel operator to establish what had happened.

“Following a thorough investigation we can confirm that the extraordinary wave was caused by a vessel entering the harbour by the seaward approach channel at excessive speed.

“We understand that the master of the vessel misinterpreted an instruction given to him, which subsequently led to the incident.

"Following conversations we are satisfied that the vessel operator now has full understanding of what the instruction meant and that this has been communicated accordingly, and that further, we are satisfied that this has been communicated to all vessels within their fleet.

“Incidents such as this are extremely rare in the Haven but we recognise that it caused a great deal of distress and alarm for members of the public involved and for that we offer our sincere apologies.”