The boy drowned in the sea off Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire

Liam Geary, 11, from Alrewas near Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire, drowned at Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire on 16 August.

Some onlookers said it took too long for help to arrive.

But the Lincolnshire ambulance service says it got there in just over six minutes, which is within their eight-minute target.

Target time

Michael West, from Louth in Lincolnshire, who tried to save the boy, said: "I have to live with the thought of that lad dying as I was giving him mouth-to-mouth and thinking: 'Where are the people who are supposed to be here?"

In this case we were on scene well within the target response time Tracy Ligema East Midlands Ambulance

"We felt a weak pulse after we pulled him out.

"I think the lifeguards and ambulance should have been there sooner."

Maria Patterson, who reached Liam first said: "People were saying - where are they, why is it taking so long?"

Tracy Ligema of Lincolnshire Ambulance NHS Trust says the emergency service responded within six minutes, which is faster than the target of eight minutes.

"In this case we were on scene well within the target response time," she said.

"Sometimes it can take quite a long time at low tide to arrive at an incident at the seaside," she said, but added that response was quick on this occasion.