Teenage girl rushed to hospital after water rescue at Carnoustie

A teenage girl was in a critical condition in hospital last night after a rescue operation on the Angus coast.

The 13-year-old was saved from the cold waters of Carnoustie Bay after a friend called the Coastguard to say she was in difficulty.

The area has a playpark on the waterfront and is popular with youngsters, who are on school holidays at the moment.

A police spokeswoman said the force had been contacted by the Arbroath Coastguard at 8.30pm.

“We were notified by the Coastguard that they had been called by the friend of a 13-year-old girl, saying that she had gotten into difficulty in the water at Beach Park in Carnoustie, just down from the leisure centre,” she said.

“The Arbroath RNLI had already launched their inshore boat, and officers were in attendance along with ambulance, and there was a helicopter en route.

“However, it had a travel time of about one hour and so was called off before it arrived,” said the spokeswoman.

In the meantime, the lifeboat had managed to get the girl on board.

The girl arrived by ambulance at Ninewells Hospital at about 9.35pm.