TWO lifeguards saved the life of a girl who lay unconscious at the bottom of a swimming pool.

The nine-year-old, who couldn't swim, had tumbled into the deep end at Strood Sport Centre and stopped breathing.

Lifeguard Adam Oliver dived to the bottom of the pool to pull her out and colleague Craig Martin revived her with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Adam, 17, said later: "I have never been in an emergency like that before. But I had been well trained so I went into auto-pilot."

Craig, 21, said: "She was obviously in a very serious condition, her complexion was very grey, so we had to work fast."

The drama happened when the girl, who was in a shallow part of the pool as part of a centre summer swimming club, was accidentally knocked over by a boy jumping into the pool.

After being rescued the girl was taken by ambulance to Medway Maritime Hospital but later allowed home. She has not been named.