A woman’s body has been pulled from the sea following a major search and rescue operation at a popular beach.
Boats from the RNLI and a coastguard helicopter scoured the waters by Brighton Palace Pier early this morning.
It followed reports of a ‘possible person in the water’ at around 4am.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: ‘Police were called following concerns for a woman in the sea off the coast of Brighton just before 3am on Wednesday, April 16.
‘Emergency services responded to the scene and the woman, in her 20s and from Lewes, was taken to hospital where she was sadly pronounced deceased.
‘Her next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
‘There are no suspicious circumstances, and this will now be a matter for the coroner.’
Rescuers wearing high visibility coats, helmets and life vests lined the shore.
A spokesperson for HM Coastguard said the agency responded ‘to reports of a possible person in the water in the Brighton Palace Pier area this morning, April 16’.
They added: ‘Alerted at around 4am, Shoreham and Newhaven Coastguard Rescue Teams, lifeboats from Shoreham and Brighton RNLI and a coastguard search and rescue helicopter have been sent to assist.
‘HM Coastguard coordinated the search, and the casualty was located and passed in to the care of the ambulance service.’
The huge search and rescue operation comes amid a spell of unsettled weather, with warnings heavy rain and potential flooding in some areas.
The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for rain on Tuesday and Wednesday in areas of the north and south west of England and in Wales.
And the agency warned of ‘isolated thunderstorms’ in the south east of England.
A yellow weather warning means there is a medium likelihood flood risk that is likely to have a low impact.
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