Rescued girl's parents at bedside

The swimmers were airlifted to hospital

The parents of a French teenager who is in intensive care after nearly drowning off the Cornish coast have travelled from France to be at her bedside.

The 17-year-old had been swimming off Porthmeor Beach, near St Ives, on Sunday, when she was caught by a strong rip current in the surf.

Two friends, also caught in the current, managed to swim to shore and raise the alarm.

The unconscious teenager was rescued and given life-saving treatment.

She is said to be in a serious but stable condition in intensive care at the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske.

She was flown there, along with her two friends, after being pulled from the water by a local resident.

She was not breathing and it is believed her heart had stopped.

No lifeguards

Two police officers helped by a member of the public started resuscitation, before air ambulance paramedics took over.

A member of the rescue crew said the other girls were "both shocked and very hypothermic".

It has emerged that there were no lifeguards on duty on Porthmeor beach at the time because the service ended for the winter two weeks ago.

Phil Drew, the RNLI's area lifeguard manager, said: "We'd all like to see the lifeguard season extended for weekends, and certainly the October half-term.

"Our wish would be that that would happen."

It is believed the three girls were part of a group of students from a college in Brittany.