HOT weather, alcohol and the headlong rush to the seaside led to a rash of emergency incidents on the South Coast during the weekend.

A young couple had to be rescued and treated by paramedics after they drunkenly took to the sea near Poole in a dinghy without any oars early yesterday.

A female friend alerted the Coastguard at 3am after her friends, a 20-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman, set off in the white wooden dinghy from Studland Beach.

In the darkness, the friend became scared for their safety after she lost sight of them.

Two lifeboats from Swanage launched a search for the pair, who had been drinking heavily and had set up to sleep on the beach during the night, according to the Coastguard.

The pair were rescued at 4am after another group heard shouting coming from the sea and a lifeboat found the couple both in the water with the dinghy having sunk.

Both were treated by an ambulance staff. The woman was taken to hospital slipping in and out of consciousness.

Bruce Lack, watch manager at Portland Coastguard said: "Drink and stupidity played major parts in this incident with the two young people in serious danger of losing their lives as a result.

"From taking a boat with no oars to having no lifejackets or means of communication in the darkness in open sea is sheer madness fuelled by drink and bravado.

"We cannot stress enough how dangerous this kind of game can be."