A body has been found just hours after a search was called off for a man who disappeared in the sea in Brighton.
Sussex Police joined ambulance and coastguard crews back on the seafront last night (Sunday 24 September).
They are understood to have recovered a body from the beach close to the Brighton Centre after being alerted by a member of the public.
Emergency services spent eight hours searching for a man in his thirties from Crawley who went into the sea early yesterday.
He was reported to have got into difficulty as he tried to get out of the water in choppy conditions and to have disappeared.
Sussex Police said: “The body of a man was sadly recovered from the sea in Brighton on Sunday night (24 September).
“A major search and rescue operation was launched at 7.15am on Sunday following reports of a man in difficulty in the sea east of Brighton Palace Pier.
“The body of the 38-year-old man was found near the shoreline on the beach opposite the Odeon Cinema.
“His next of kin have been informed and are receiving support from officers at this time.
“There are no suspicious circumstances and the death has been referred to the coroner.”
The coastguard, the RNLI Brighton lifeboat and Sussex Police started searching at about 7.15am and were joined by the Shoreham lifeboat.
A coastguard helicopter provided aerial support to shore-based volunteers from Shoreham and Newhaven as the search focused on the area between the pier and Brighton Marina.
The Newhaven lifeboat also joined the operation along with a fixed-wing coastguard aircraft from Southend with enhanced search capabilities.
Paramedic crews from the South East Coast Ambulance Service were on standby on the shore.
The search was called off at about 3pm, some eight hours after the initial 999 call, with the man still missing.
One of those involved said that the duration of the search was linked to how long someone could be expected to survive in the water.
The conditions were choppy, with a southerly wind, blowing force 5 to 6 and an ebbing tide. Low tide was at 1.50pm.
