Two friends were thrown into the sea and drowned when their fishing boat overturned off the West Sussex coast.

A major sea search was launched yesterday after a 999 call from a holidaymaker on the beach at Selsey Bill, near Chichester, who spotted the fishermen in difficulty.

The anglers, aged 54 and 58 and believed to come from Selsey, were thrown into the sea when their boat overturned just 75 metres from shore.

One of the men was pulled unconscious from the waves by Selsey Inshore Lifeboat just after 3pm.

He was given first aid on the beach and rushed to St Richard's Hospital in Chichester but was pronounced dead on arrival.

The body of the second man was found by fishermen four hours later after a massive search by a helicopter and seven boats.

The man's body was pulled ashore. He was also pronounced dead at hospital.

A police spokesman said: "It looks like they went out to sea in a dinghy and somehow encountered a difficulty which resulted in this incident.

"It was not very far from shore that the boat overturned."

A Solent Coastguard spokesman said: "Two persons were recovered from the water, one not long after the search began and the other was found by a fishing vessel."

Selsey Inshore Lifeboat, Selsey Lifeboat, a coastguard helicopter and five local vessels had been searching for the second man.

A shoreline search was also carried out.

The incident is not being treated as suspicious but an investigation has been launched.

Post-mortem examinations were expected to be conducted later today.