BEACHGOERS are being urged not to climb on rocks following a late night rescue on Clacton beach.

Emergency services were called to a rock groyne east of Clacton Pier on Tuesday night.

Clacton Coastguard and firefighters from Weeley and Clacton were called to the scene at about 10.40pm following reports a man had slipped on the rocks and had got stuck in the breakwater.

The tide was coming in and firefighters used straps to pull him out.

Fortunately the man was not badly hurt during the incident.

Firefighters are now warning people of the dangers of climbing coastal rocks.

Clacton crew manager Andrew Deex said: “He had been there quite a while.

"He had been sitting on the rocks, dropped his mobile phone in between the gaps and had got stuck when he tried to retrieve it.

"Luckily he had someone with him who called for help, otherwise it could have been a very different story.

"It was dark and the tide was coming in.

“We would urge people not to climb on rocks by the sea, especially at night.”

The Environment Agency has previously called on parents and schools to talk to children about the dangers of playing on rock groynes when they go to the beach.

It said the surfaces can be slippery and the gaps between the rocks, designed to disperse waves, can trap limbs as they have in the past.