A nine-year-old boy has been saved by the RNLI after being dragged out to sea on an inflatable dolphin.

Ryan Supple was at Joss Bay, Broadstairs, yesterday afternoon with his family when he entered the water on the blow-up toy.

Lifeguard Harry Higate Royce, 17, spotted him struggling to get back to shore and kept an eye on the boy - concerned he would drift out of the red and yellow flagged zone.

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Shortly afterwards Mr Royce jumped in to the sea on a rescue board and went out to him.

After reaching Ryan, Mr Royce discovered that the boy could not swim and was exhausted from his efforts to return to shore.

Ryan was reunited with his mum, Claire, on the beach and they were both given safety advice by lifeguards.

She said: "Thank you so much to the lifeguards who helped my son get back to shore safely.

VIDEO: Ryan is rescued by lifeguard

"If it wasn’t for them, who knows what could have happened?"

RNLI Lifeguard supervisor Ben Detheridge said: "Because of the direction of the wind, the boy would have eventually been blown towards the chalk reef just north of the bay.

"This means he would have had to clamber across a slippery, uneven reef to get back to the sandy shore, which could have led to further challenges for the lifeguards."

The rescue comes after a busy weekend which saw lifeguards at Joss Bay help a further four beachgoers in inflatable boats, kayaks and rubber rings.