A policeman spoke today of his desperate battle to save a woman from drowning.

PC Mark Ritchie swam after the woman when she threw herself into the sea off Langney Point, Eastbourne, on Saturday morning.

The 52-year-old woman was sitting on sewage pipes about 30ft out to sea when PC Ritchie and his colleague PC CLiff Lee first approached her.

PC Ritchie said: "She was sitting right at the end of the pipes and the waves were lapping over her.

"It's like an artificial harbour, and there is a pretty strong current.

"As we were walking along the pipe to her, she turned and looked at us and then let herself slip into the water and float away.

"I was talking to her, trying to get her to talk to me, but she was just drifting further out."

PC Ritchie, 35, from Polegate, waded out to sea in a bid to persuade the woman to return to shore.

But he said the woman rolled over on to her front and appeared to lose consciousness, so he battled through the choppy water to save her.

PC Ritchie said: "It was a snap decision to go in like I did.

"It wasn't too hard getting to her, but when I tried to swim back with her, I really struggled. I was about 50ft from the shore, just holding her head up.

"When I got into difficulties I thought, 'What am I doing here?'.

"It passed through my head that I might be in real danger, but I felt compelled to try to save her."

PC Ritchie and the woman were plucked from the sea by Eastbourne lifeboat and taken to Eastbourne District General Hospital.

PC Ritchie, who was back on duty yesterday, said: "My wife was in tears when I told her what I had done.

"To actually know you have saved someone's life, that they would have died if you hadn't been there, is a pretty good feeling."