The man's daughter slipped on rocks at Tintagel

Aimee Boda, 12, is thought to have fallen off rocks at Tintagel in Cornwall while fishing on holiday with her family from Loughborough.

The alarm was raised at 1530 on Tuesday by her 10-year-old brother who used a mobile phone to call the coastguard.

The girl's 42-year-old father, Jan, was pulled from the water by a rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose near Helston, but died in hospital.

A helicopter from RNAS Culdrose took the man to hospital

His daughter is being treated for hypothermia at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

She was rescued by the Port Isaac lifeboat crew and was airlifted by an RMB Chivenor team to the hospital.

James Instance from Falmouth Coastguards said: "The family had been fishing when the daughter slipped and fell into water.

"Her father jumped in to try and rescue her."

The little girl was getting weaker and weaker Anthony Williams, Boscastle Cliff Rescue Team

After making the phone call, the boy, who was with his mother, watched his father and sister drift out of sight.

Mr Instance said that there was a large swell around the cliffs, made worse by a strong north-westerly wind.

Anthony Williams, from Boscastle Cliff Rescue Team, said he had found the girl treading water and her father face down in the sea.

He said: "Time was certainly of the essence. The little girl was getting weaker and weaker.

"We estimate that she had less than a minute left of survival time."

Mr Williams praised the rescuers and the "astonishing little girl", saying: "With temperatures in the sea now only about 11C and a massive swell running as well, I can only praise that little girl. She's absolutely amazing."

The surviving pair were later airlifted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

Coastguards have made five rescues from Cornwall cliffs in the last four days.