MORE than 30 tourists were saved by lifeguards after a powerful riptide pulled them 100 yards out to sea.

Many of those who were sucked out by the current were children who had been playing on mini-surfboards.

Their rescuers said yesterday that many could have drowned if several lifeguards had not been on duty. They used boats, surfboards and jet skis to pull 31 people from a bathing area at Perranporth Beach in Cornwall on Monday afternoon. A further 34 people had been rescued earlier after ignoring safety flags telling them where to swim.

As lifeguards treated them on the beach with oxygen, others ran past them to play in the water. A further 35 people were rescued at Porthtowan, ten miles along the coast. Two in serious trouble were saved by the lifeguards.

Perranporth Beach, near the surf resort of Newquay, in north Cornwall, was crowded with visitors basking in high temperatures. About 7,000 people were on the beach and 1,000 were estimated to be in the water at the time of the incident. Perranporth is renowned for its riptides. None of the people who had to be rescued was local to the area.

A riptide occurs when sandbanks build up underwater to form a bottleneck. When several large waves break, the water returning out to sea is forced at speed through it. This can sweep people off their feet and drag them some distance. On Monday it was exacerbated by the collapse of an underwater sandbank, which created a powerful surge of water.

Andy Thomas, a Royal National Lifeboat Institution beach supervisor, said: “Had the lifeguards not been at the beach there is no doubt there would have been multiple drownings — flash rip currents can be lethal. There was a lot of panic in the water. People were screaming and shouting and waving for help.”

The team of 12 lifeguards rescued the bathers within five minutes, administering oxygen where necessary.

Dickon Berriman, 29, a senior lifeguard, said: “It was a very, very busy day. It’s an incredibly popular beach, particularly with families. But it’s also renowned for being quite dangerous among locals, because of the riptides.

“We were giving advice all day, talking to people and using the PA system, but they were just ignoring it. Because the beach was so crowded, people were swimming outside the flagged zones. We kept trying to get them to move up the beach into the safe areas.

“As we were rescuing people and bringing them to the shore, others were running past us into the water. It was frustrating for us and dangerous for them.

“During the mass rescue, people were out of their depth and panicking. We were trying to help the children and those who were panicking the most first. They were all tourists, mostly swimmers and young children on body boards (half-sized surfboards). They were distressed and incredibly relieved to be rescued. There would have been a fatality if we weren’t there in force.”

Perranporth Beach is three miles in length, and recently hosted the women’s world surfing competition.

The town of Perranporth, once a small tin-mining village, has grown as a holiday resort in recent years. Visitors are attracted by its dunes, coastal paths, caves and dramatic cliffs.

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