A teenager evaded capture by swimming up and down off Brighton beach for almost two hours.

Police, Brighton lifeboat crew, lifeguards and coastguards were all called.

The 15-year-old was finally stopped when one of the lifeboat crew and a lifeguard grabbed him and pulled him ashore, shortly before 5.10pm.

The drama began at 3.20pm yesterday when police arrived at the Palace Pier, Brighton, responding to a separate incident.

The boy, who police said was suspected of criminal damage and theft on the pier, climbed over the side and on to the gantry below. He then jumped into the sea.

Onlookers said he swam to and fro between the pier and the Banjo Groyne as police shadowed him from the beach.

The lifeboat was called an hour after the teenager took to the water, joined by lifeguards and the Coastguard. An ambulance was in attendance.

Onlooker Peter Avey said: "Five police grabbed him, put him on the beach, handcuffed him and dragged him off."

Brighton police spokeswoman Caroline Bond said: "I would have thought he was very cold and very wet."