TWO passers-by rescued a woman cyclist who fell head-first into the sea.

Cyril Wyatt was fishing on the lower promenade, Holland-on-Sea, when the 54-year-old fell into the water at high tide.

Mr Wyatt, of Amerells Road, Clacton, tried to reach the woman from a small patch of shingle.

He said: "Even there, water was hitting me as I tried to reach her.

Mr Wyatt enlisted the help of Ray Chillingworth, who was painting his beach hut.

"The sea was thundering in," said Mr Chillingworth, 58, of Eastcliff Avenue, Holland-on-Sea.

"She was quite a big lady so it was hard to get her out."

Together, the men used her bike to give the woman something to cling to, and they managed to pull her on to the shingle.

The woman was taken to Colchester General Hospital by air ambulance to be checked over for a possible back injury but was declared well.

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