A man who was pulled from rough seas is still in hospital 48 hours since the incident. 

On Tuesday, the coastguard helicopter was called to reports of the man being “face down in the water” in Brighton.

The alarm was raised at around 2pm to the unresponsive man in the sea between the Palace Pier and West Pier.

He was pulled from the water and taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital by road ambulance at around 2.40pm.

The RNLI from Shoreham and coastguard helicopter searched along the seafront in windy conditions.

A force spokeswoman said: “Emergency services were called to report of a person face down in the water near the Brighton Sailing Club, King Road Arches.

“The man was pulled from the water by beach patrol officers and taken to hospital by ambulance.

“Police, coastguard teams, the coastguard helicopter and Shoreham RNLI lifeboat carried out a search of the sea and shoreline to check for any further casualties. They were stood down after no one else was found."

Now, police have confirmed that the man is still in hospital 48 hours since the incident.

Coastguard crews from Shoreham and Newhaven attended.

One bystander said: "It's very rough conditions and visibility is not very good.

"Waves are coming quite far up the beach due to the conditions."