If it's a nice summer evening, high-spirited people go down to the water when the clubs close or as a dare

Coastguard Jed Lynch

It is thought Mr Hitchings, from Guildford in Surrey, was trying to jump under or over the waves.

He was dead on arrival at Blackpool's Victoria Hospital.

Coastguard Jed Lynch said "wave dodging" was a popular but dangerous activity on the UK coast in the summer.

Sea wall

"In places like Blackpool, where there's a sea wall, as the waves come in and touch the promenade they cause an undertow that sucks people back out again.

"The power of the waves is likely to knock people off their feet.

"Night-swimming is a problem. If it's a nice summer evening, high-spirited people go down to the water when the clubs close or as a dare."

Mr Lynch added that anyone swimming in seas around the UK at night risked catching hypothermia.

"I would warn anyone not to go swimming in the hours of darkness.

"The UK sea does not warm up in winter or summer."