Andy Burnham issues message to relatives of young girl fighting for life in hospital after three family members drowned at sea

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."

More to follow...