A hero who died while saving a five-year-old girl from drowning in Sussex on Sunday has been named as Plamen Petkova.

Mr Petkova, of Westmorland Drive, Sutton, drowned off West Wittering Beach on May 27.

The 32-year-old saw a five-year-old girl being carried out by the tide when he swam to her rescue.

Fortunately, the Bulgarian was able to reach the child and pass her on to a woman who had swam out with him and was able to bring the child safely back to her family on the shore.

However, tragically Mr Petkova was unable to reach the shore himself and was recovered unconscious from the water by others at the scene.

Despite efforts by members of the public and emergency services to resuscitate he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A postmortem held today at St Richards Hospital, Chichester, found the cause of death to be drowning, and an inquest has been formally opened and adjourned.

A Sussex Police spokesman said; "It is clear that this was a tragic accident, and there is no further police investigation. There will be a Coroner's inquest at a later date yet to be set."