by Sam Lennon

A father revealed how he let momentarily let go of his children’s buggy that rolled into the sea as he kissed a woman friend.

Andrew Hopper and Paula Anderson then scrambled into the sea to try to save two-year-old Rebecca Hopper and her eight-month-old brother, Lewis.

Lewis survived but Rebecca drowned in the tragedy an inquest heard.

And Rebecca’s mother after the hearing said the accident could “easily have been avoided.”

Mr Hopper told the inquest via statement: “We stopped, I said come here, we kissed, I let go of the buggy momentarily.

“I heard what sounded like a plop in the water, we broke off the kiss.

“They were in the water.”

Mrs Anderson told the hearing: “We turned to each other, we kissed, I heard a noise of a splash. That alerted us, then we realised the buggy was not there.”

The tragedy had happened as the pair and strolled with the two children in the pushchair at a spot known as the Warren near Folkestone on the afternoon of Sunday, February 15 this year.

The children had not been strapped in and broke free of the buggy in the water

Mr Hopper, of Rochester, Kent, said he believed had they been secured both would have drowned.

Both he and Mrs Anderson plunged into the freezing water to try to save the children and also got into difficulty.

Mr Hopper was able to grab Lewis, Mrs Anderson got hold of Rebecca . Nearby members of the public also joined in to help save the stricken group.

Among them was Alan Ashman, of Millfield, Folkestone, who said he had first been alerted by the distressed barking of Mrs Anderson’s dog.

The bystanders struggled to save the rescued children with mouth to mouth resuscitation and chest compression.

Rebecca, of Kingston Crescent, Lordswood, Chatham, was flown straight to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel but died there.

The inquest heard that the buggy was not defective but the brake had not been put on. Mr Hopper was afterwards interviewed by the police over the tragedy.

A file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, which decided that no criminal offence would be prosecuted.

Coroner Rachel Redman recorded a verdict of accidental death and said: “Members of the public came along and made heroic efforts to save the lives of these poor people.

“This was a tragic case in which a little girl lost her life.”

Rebecca had a second brother, Joseph.

Her mother Sarah Hopper was not at the inquest but issued a statement afterwards, which said: “Rebecca was my beautiful baby girl and her brothers and I miss her every second of every day.

“While today’s decision will help us take the next step in our recovery, the accident which took my little girl’s life could so easily have been avoided.

“Rebecca will never be forgotten and I intend to make sure my two boys will always know how important she was in our lives.”