The mother and daughter who died after getting into difficulty in the water off the Essex coast have been named as Shally Rahman, 42, and Samiha Rahman, 15.

A seven-year-old boy is also in a serious condition in hospital, the family told the BBC.

Emergency services were called to West Mersea beach near Colchester at 5:35pm on Wednesday evening. Witnesses reported seeing a group of people standing on a seabank as the tide came in, and described them “calling for help”.

Paramedics said one patient was transported by air to hospital, and a further three patients were transported by road to hospital.

Detective Chief Inspector Al Pitcher said: "Today, our thoughts remain with the family members who are coming to terms with their loss.

"We are grateful to the people who have already spoken to us and helped with our enquiries. We would ask anyone who was at the beach at the time, and who has not yet spoken with officers, to please get in touch, to help us understand what happened.”

He added: ”At this stage of our enquiries, we believe those involved in the incident knew each other. Anyone who was in the area at the time and has information or footage which may assist our investigation is asked to contact us on 101 and quote incident 1090.”