A woman in her 20’s from Lewes has died after a major air and sea search off the coast of Brighton.
The coastguard was alerted to a person in the water off the Palace Pier at around 3am today.
RNLI teams from Brighton, Shoreham, and Newhaven were involved in the search.
Sussex Police tell us the woman, who has not been named, was taken to hospital where she was pronounced deceased.
Statement from Sussex Police: "Police were called following concerns for a woman in the sea off the coast of Brighton just before 3am on Wednesday, April 16.
Emergency services responded to the scene and the woman, in her 20s and from Lewes, was taken to hospital where she was sadly pronounced deceased.
Her next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
There are no suspicious circumstances and this will now be a matter for the coroner."
Earlier today HM Coastguard had this to say: "HM Coastguard has been responding to a person in the water in the Brighton Palace Pier area this morning, 16 April. Alerted at around 4am, Shoreham and Newhaven Coastguard Rescue Teams, lifeboats from Shoreham and Brighton RNLI and a coastguard search and rescue helicopter were sent to the scene. HM Coastguard coordinated the search, and the casualty was located and passed in to the care of the ambulance service."
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