This was the moment an off-duty lifeguard saved a surfer from treacherous seas off the north coast of Cornwall. Iona Steen, 28, screamed for help after being dragged out by surging currents.

Howard Davey, a volunteer for the RNLI, was body-boarding nearby and went to her aid. By the time he reached Ms Steen, she was so cold that she could barely move.

Another off-duty lifeguard, Dan Stirling, ran out with a rescue board and all three safely reached shore at St Agnes.

Ms Steen, from Brighton, East Sussex, was taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia but released within hours of Saturday’s rescue.

“I was very tired and I just kept being pushed under the water and I got very distressed,” she said yesterday.