Teenager hurt in pier tombstoning

The teenager was injured after tombstoning into shallow water

A teenager has been airlifted to hospital with severe neck injuries and cracked ribs after tombstoning from a pier in Cornwall.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the 17-year-old youth was injured after jumping 25ft (7.6m) into shallow water from Banjo pier in Looe.

An MCA spokesman said the teenager, who is believed to be from Devon, had been on a camping trip to Cornwall.

Local coastguards cleared the beach to allow an air ambulance to land.

Warnings issued

The condition of the youth is not known.

Coastguards issue warnings every year about the dangers involved in tombstoning - leaping into the water from a height.

Last year, a 25-year-old man suffered spinal injuries after jumping off a cliff into 3ft (90cm) of water at Sharrow Point in Whitsand Bay, Cornwall.

Earlier this month, a 15-year-old boy was seriously injured after jumping from the roof of a yacht club into shallow water between the Hoe and the Barbican in Plymouth.