A policeman was today hailed a hero after he braved freezing water to rescue a teenager stuck in the mud off Southend seafront.

PC Graham Warboys, of Rayleigh traffic police, was on routine patrol in Southend at just after midnight yesterday morning when he heard on the radio that someone was in trouble in the water off Marine Parade.

He answered the call and discovered an 18-year-old boy was stuck in the mud, with the tide rising around him.

His friends and members of the public had tried to help but could not get him out of the sea.

PC Warboys waded into the icy cold water and pulled the boy ashore.

The teenager was taken to Southend Hospital by ambulance suffering from slight hypothermia. He also had a sprained ankle.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "It is thanks to the quick thinking and bravery of the officer that he was brought out of the water and prevented from drowning. He is quite a hero."

The 18-year-old lives in London but was in Southend staying with friends.

It is believed he was messing about on the beach and ran out into the water, where he managed to get one of his feet stuck in a hole in the mud.

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