Two teenage girls who were swept out to sea on inflatables had to be rescued by the Whitstable lifeboat.

The girls were using a dinghy and rubber ring and got into difficulties off Herne Bay on Sunday afternoon as force five winds took hold.

Lifeboat helmsman Dave Parry said: "We arrived at the scene 400 yards off Western Esplanade to find a rescue boat from the Hampton Sailing Club already in attendance.

"We took the two inflatables and their rather frightened occupants, two girls aged 14 and 15, onboard the lifeboat and landed them ashore to one of their parents."

He reiterated safety advice that inflatables should be attached to an anchor point such as a groyne.

The incident was one in a series involving inflatables, with two people taken ashore at Swalecliffe on the same day after being blown out to sea in a dinghy, and three people in difficulties off Tankerton last week in an inflatable canoe.