A MAN has died after being rescued from the waters off a Hampshire beach.

Police say enquiries are ongoing into the incident at Lepe Beach on Saturday.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Police said: "We were called at 3.54pm on Saturday 28 August to a report that a man was unconscious in the sea at Lepe Beach, Exbury.

"The 51-year-old man was transported to Southampton General Hospital but despite the best efforts of emergency services was pronounced dead.

"Enquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the man’s death."

Organisations including the coastguard and RNLI were alerted on Saturday around 2pm to reports of a family group on paddleboards in difficulty at Lepe Spit.

Teams from Lymington Coastguard Rescue Team, the coastguard helicopter from Lee-on-Solent, Calshot RNLI Lifeboat, Cowes RNLI Lifeboat, South Central Ambulance Service and Southampton VTS responded to a Mayday broadcast from a vessel, reporting the incident.

Three casualties were treated at the scene by paramedics, while a man was airlifted to hospital by coastguard helicopter.

The group are believed to have been using inflatable paddleboards and had launched from their motor cruiser.

Following the incident, the paddleboards were collected by different boats and handed over to an RNLI crew.

Ian Cockram, who witnessed the rescue from a nearby boat said they were waiting on standby during the incident as they were the biggest boat.