A six-year-old girl was told not to go back into the sea before she was found lifeless in Margate harbour, an inquest has heard.

Dajahnel Young was discovered on a sandbank almost an hour after she went missing on the busy beach on Saturday, July 28.

As an inquest into her death opened, it was revealed she had last spoken to a woman called Cynthia Robinson about going to the toilet.

Ms Robinson told her not to go back into the sea at about 2.20pm and said Dajahnel was playing on the beach, but she was noticed missing shortly after.

Lifeguard teams were alerted and a desperate search for the youngster was launched.

But shortly after 3pm a bystander saw Dajahnel floating in the sea, initially mistaking her body for a piece of debris.

After realising it was a young child, emergency crews were called to the scene and CPR was carried out on the beach and in the ambulance as it headed to the QEQM Hospital in Margate.

“I just could not believe what we were seeing. Everybody was in tears afterwards..." - witness Jean Beswick

But the efforts of medics proved in vain and the youngster, who lived in Erith in south east London, was pronounced dead.

Jean Beswick, the owner of BeBeached restaurant on the harbour arm, said the incident was the most harrowing thing she has ever witnessed.

“I just could not believe what we were seeing,” she said. “Everybody was in tears afterwards.

“The paramedics were so brilliant and spent about half-an-hour trying to save her.”

A post-mortem examination carried out by Dr Simi George revealed the cause of death as immersion

The hearing at Archbishop's Palace in Maidstone was adjourned by assistant coroner Georgina Gibbs and will be reopened at a later date.