Thank you for subscribing!

Floral tributes were left on the beach at Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex

Andy Burnham sent his "best wishes and love" to the family of a young girl fighting for her life after a "terrible tragedy" at sea in West Sussex.

There was a huge emergency service response to the incident in Shoreham-by-Sea, when police were told four people had got into difficulty in the water.

It is thought the four family members went into the water for a swim.

Sussex Police confirmed on Tuesday night that a man, a woman and a teenage girl had died, while a younger girl from the family was in a critical condition in hospital.

Mr Burnham has now warned about the dangers of open water swimming.

Asked during a visit to the North East if the Government needed to do more to tackle water safety, the Prime Minister replied: "Always.

"It’s so sad to hear what happened yesterday, and obviously we think there’s a young girl still in the hospital fighting for her life, and we send our best wishes and love to wider friends and family. But a real tragedy, a real terrible family tragedy.

"There’s more that can be done. Obviously, we will look in detail at what happened. The thing I can say today, and there is still, I think, a further heatwave to come in this summer period, it is just to remind people about the dangers of open water swimming."

The Prime Minister continued: "The coldness, even in when it feels hot outside, it can shock people, and that can cause the the difficulties. So people just need to remember that at all times.

"I do need to praise the emergency services, who I know were on scene very quickly yesterday.

"They’ve had a busy summer, but they were there, and we thank them. As I say, just huge sympathy to the friends and the family."

Officers have not named the victims but said their next of kin had been informed and were being supported by specialist officers.

A resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Telegraph: "I heard from friends in the coastguard that it was a family who had been living in tents by the harbour front.

"They were camping just between the harbour arm and the fort. They have been there for a couple weeks, I’ve walked my dog past them. People don’t usually camp there."

Alan Facer, a fisherman from Hove, added: "The wind earlier was south-westerly so usually the waves pick up quite a bit. At 3pm, the tide would have been quite high.

"I was thinking the other day that someone is going to get hurt around here."

Several ambulances were at the scene on Tuesday, as well as two air ambulances, an HM Coastguard helicopter and rescue teams from Littlehampton, Newhaven and Shoreham and the RNLI lifeboat.

Police said the coastguard has searched the water and is not looking for anyone else. Shoreham RNLI was tasked by HM Coastguard at around 3pm on Tuesday, an RNLI spokesman said.

The lifeboat station and shop was closed to visitors on Wednesday but the lifeboat was still on service.

East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tom Rutland said the community in Shoreham "will be hoping and praying for the recovery of the young girl".