A man braved dangerous mudflats to help save his brother's family when their boat ran aground in a river near Maldon.

William Saint, 59, of Cherry Blossom Lane, Cold Norton, risked his own safety in order to raise the alarm after the incident on Saturday afternoon.

Mr Saint waded to shore to tell the Coastguard the family were stranded on a speedboat in Bridgemarsh Creek in the River Crouch.

Burnham lifeboat and a rescue craft from Bradwell were launched but could not reach the vessel because of shallow water so an RAF rescue helicopter, on exercise in the area, was called in to save the day.

Mr Saint was out on a day trip to Burnham from North Fambridge with his brother and family, all from Ilford.

They were on their way back at 5.30pm on Saturday when they hit trouble due to the falling tides.

Rather than all of them trying to escape across the mud Mr Saint chose to go alone. Coastguards have hailed his actions as a "brave but wise decision".

Richard Townshend, sector manager at Bradwell Coastguard, said: "We would discourage anyone from wading across the mud, it can be very dangerous. They made the right decision in staying with the vessel."

Within half an hour all four were safely back on dry land at Althorne.

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