BRIGHTON A dozen swimmers had to be pulled from the sea yesterday after an abortive Christmas Day attempt to swim around Brighton pier was hit by heavy seas, above.

Brighton Swimming Club abandoned the traditional swim after 8ft waves and 30mph winds battered the pier. Hundreds of people ignored warnings of the most dangerous weather to hit the event for decades.

Paul Smith, of Brighton Swimming School, was one of the rescuers. He said: “We did 12 rescues altogether. One man in his sixties was bashed down by a wave completely and went right under, but me and a friend managed to scoop him up. The wave then squashed us both and we lost him . . . he popped up again beside me. He was very upset – he’d had a close shave.”

The seas also tore bathing costumes, with one man forced to scurry out naked.

Other Christmas Day swims went on. About 700 swimmers braved the Bristol Channel at Porthcawl, South Wales, and members of the Serpentine Swimming Club plunged into near-freezing, muddy waters in Hyde Park. For Alan Lacy, 84, a former RAF pilot, it was his 60th dip. “Waiting to dive into the cold water offers a similar trepidation to going off on a military operation,” he said.