A heroic coastguard has described how he was forced to dive into the water at a popular harbour to complete a dramatic rescue.

The Folkestone Coastguard rescue team (CRT) was called into action at the seaside town’s harbour after reports of a man and a woman getting into difficulty.

The pair had been rowing a tender out to a moored vessel when the man became entangled in a rope, submerging him with just his head above the water.

To make matters worse, the tender was taking on water – leaving the woman stranded as it sank.

As part of a complex operation including the RNLI and HM Coastguard, one officer stepped up to the unenviable task of going in for a water rescue.

Tom Nunnen-Wills donned a lifejacket over his Coastguard overalls with a line attached so he could safely swim out with the other end held securely by the team.

Approaching the man slowly and explaining the plan to avoid him panicking, Tom released him from the tangled ropes before they were pulled to safety.

With the man securely on land, Tom returned to the woman in the tender. Still on the line, he grasped the little boat while the team carefully hauled him and the second casualty to safety.

The 33-year-old said: “We decided that given the helicopter and lifeboat were not there yet, we needed to do an immediate rescue as the casualties were not far from the harbourside.

“It’s a bit of a cliche to say your training kicks in, but it really did. All of a sudden you go into autopilot. We practice often and everybody knew their position and what to do.

“The adrenaline was running, like any incident, and we had to make a quick decision. Afterwards, I was feeling like we had accomplished something, and it was rewarding to be able to put our training into effect.

“It was a happy ending – it could have gone south. It was lucky we were out at the time so we could get there so quickly.

“Things can escalate so fast. We did not expect to have to go in the water but circumstances can change in an instant.”

After the rescue, on October 8, the man and woman were passed safe and well into the care of the South East Ambulance Service.