'Young girl' jumped into water after 'spotting person in trouble' in Hayling Island

A major emergency service operation involving police, paramedics, firefighters and coastguard was launched on Saturday.

Police have said that one woman had been rescued after getting in trouble in the water off Langstone Bridge, Hayling Island.

The search for a reported second person still in the water is set to resume on Sunday.

James Jones, bar supervisor at The Ship, in Langstone, said the police had come in to take CCTV footage from the pub at 2:30pm, informing staff that a ‘young girl’ had jumped in to the harbour after spotting what she thought was a person in the water.

James said: ‘Police said that a girl was walking across the bridge when she saw something in the water. She threw in a life preserver, and the police reckon she jumped in after that.

‘They had got the girl out and taken her to hospital and wanted the CCTV to see if anyone else could be spotted in the water.’

The bar supervisor said this was the first search and recuse operation he had heard of in the area in the two years he has been working at the pub.

He said: ‘We heard about eight different stories from people coming through the door before the police arrived.’

The operation caused congestion across Hayling Island bridge and Havant, including the A27

One local drinking outside on the patio overlooking the water said the traffic became a ‘big problem’ as the search continued into the afternoon.

He said: ‘Loads of car were queued back along the bridge.’

Hayling Island Police earlier said on Facebook that the woman had been taken to hospital.

Members of the emergency services were searching both sides of the bridge, with lifeboats going as far as Chichester harbour, until the tides and nightfall made it unproductive to continue, according senior coast guard operations office Robert Sansom.

He said: ‘Life boats from Hayling Island, Portsmouth, and the Ministry of Defence police were involved in the search.

‘We also had a search and rescue helicopter in the air, which was a huge help after the water drained from the harbour.’

‘Helicopter HM Rescue 175 was seen searching the water along the Hayling Island bridge until 5.30pm.

The operations office encouraged anyone who sees anything concerning to call the coast guard on 999.

He added: ‘Even if they just think they saw something, we will search for as long as it is possible.’

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