HEARTTHROB Nick Berry is used to playing the hero - but found himself at the centre of a real-life drama.

The 41-year-old actor helped pull a body from the sea near Hove lagoon as coastguards arrived.

Nick played the part of PC Nick Rowan in the hit television series Heartbeat and dealt with many small-scale crises.

He went on to play troubled police officer Liam Ketman in the chilling BBC drama In Deep and ended up in a canal after a car chase.

He came to the aid of a distressed kayaker on Saturday.

A man's body had been found at 10.40am on Saturday in the sea.

The kayaker alerted the Coastguard and paddled back to the beach holding the man alongside the canoe.

He called to the shore for help and Nick rushed down to help remove the body from the water.

The former EastEnders actor joined the Brighton lifeboat crew who waded into the water with a bodybag.

A spokesman for the lifeboat said: "We were called to assist but by the time we had got there the kayaker had managed to get the body to the shoreline.

"We sent a couple of guys into the water with a bodybag to try to preserve some dignity and the coroner was called.

"Nick Berry was in the area and when he saw what was happening he came to assist. He helped retrieve the body from the water."

The spokesman said the body was that of a man in his 30s dressed only in his underwear.

Sussex Police could not say if the death was being treated as suspicious.

Nick starred in seven series of Heartbeat from the first episode in 1992 as the friendly beat officer for North Riding police force.

The programme was set in the fictional rural village of Aidensfield in North Yorkshire.

The actor, who lives in Hove with his wife Rachel, moved to Heartbeat after playing Wicksy in EastEnders.