The hovercraft was launched at 5.40pm today at the request of the coastguard.

Hunstanton RNLI spokesman Geoff Needham said the crew saw a man in the water off the town's South Beach, who was trying to swim ashore.

'Our crews quick response prevented a serious situation from becoming a fatal one,' he said. 'They managed to pull him into the hovercraft, he was in an exhausted state, and was not dressed for swimming.

'It is believed that he had gone out onto the sandbanks and had been caught out by the incoming tide, he was handed over to the local paramedic and coastguard response team on Hunstanton beach, after being examined and found to be alright, crews were stood down to return to station.'

The man is believed to have been a 34-year-old Chinese national from the Swaffham area.

Mr Needham said visitors should not venture out onto sandbanks, because they could find themselves cut off by the rising tide and strong currents.