THREE people had a lucky escape after an eagle-eyed passer-by spotted them stranded in the sea with a jet ski.
The member of the public raised the alarm and the Hartlepool Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) inshore lifeboat and volunteer crew was dispatched to a pumping station near the North Gare, at Seaton Carew.
The jet ski had been towing a rub
ber ring but broke down when the rope got caught in the propeller.
The group tied the jet ski to a water buoy and were about to swim to shore.
One man and two women were in the water when the lifeboat crew arrived. They were taken out of the water and transported, alongside their jet ski, to the Tees and Hartlepool Yacht Club at around 6pm on Tuesday.
A spokesman for Hartlepool RNLI said: "The driver of the jet ski had no flares or communication equipment on board.
"It could have been a different story had a passer-by not spotted the group waving.
"Nobody was injured but they were left a little shaken by the incident."
A spokesman for the Humber Coastguard, which covers the North East England coast, said: "We got a call from a member of the public who had seen a group of people waving from their craft.
"They didn't have any flares or communication equipment on board but jet skis rarely do."
The full article contains 238 words and appears in Hartlepool Mail newspaper.
