Two honoured for sea rescue

The five-year-old girl was winched to safety by helicopter

A police officer and a pier worker have been honoured for rescuing a mother and her five-year-old daughter from the sea in West Sussex.

Pc Gary Relf received a Local Hero of the Year Award after saving the pair from freezing water off Bognor Regis pier in February.

Kevin Murphy, the technical manager of the pier, also received the accolade to mark his bravery.

The two men swam into the sea after a call was received saying the mother and daughter were in the water.

Crash aftermath

After reaching the stranded pair, the two men helped as the girl was winched to safety by helicopter and the 31-year-old woman was picked up by a lifeboat.

Another police officer Pc Mark Hill was also honoured.

He was presented with the Beyond the Call of Duty Award in honour of Jeff Tooley, the Sussex Pc who was knocked down and killed while on duty in April 1999.

Pc Hill, based at Haywards Heath, was called to an accident on the M23 near Gatwick in June last year.

Three people died in the crash, including a 10-year-old girl and her mother.

Pc Hill stayed with the mother's partner and his teenage son for some seven hours dealing with the aftermath of the crash.

The award ceremony is organised by the Argus Newspaper and was held at the Brighton Centre.