Jess and Molly got into difficulties shortly after going into the sea

Jane Evans said she was convinced she and the children were going to drown off the beach near Southwold.

Mrs Evans and the two little girls, daughter Mollie, five, and niece Jess Webb, 10, were pounded against a sea wall as they struggled against the tide.

The girls got into difficulty soon after leaving the beach to play in the sea on Thursday.

I tried to swim back to the shore but I realised that wasn't going to happen Jane Evans

As Mrs Evans ran in to help them, a rip tide suddenly swept all three out to sea.

"I did actually think that we were all going to die - that we were going to drown.

"As I got to them we were all swept further out so sea. I tried to swim back to the shore but I realised that wasn't going to happen.

"The tide was just taking us further and further out."

Mrs Evans managed to keep the children's heads above water as she pulled them to the end of the harbour sea wall while the alarm was raised.

As they recovered from their ordeal the girls said they had been very frightened.

Jane Evans and the girls revisit the scene of the drama

"The water was cold and there were really, really big waves," she said.

"It was really, really rough so you were being thrown back and forth," Jess said.

A surfer and the inshore lifeboat arrived to rescue them.

John Huggins, Southwold Lifeboat operations manager, said the three had a lucky escape.

"I think the signs should be in plainer English. A rip tide doesn't mean a lot to many people other than be aware that something is happening," he said.

Mrs Evans is calling for better warning signs about the dangers of the strong tides.

BBC Look East reporter Alex Dunlop said the only sign he could see warning bathers of rip tides was in relatively small print and easy to miss at the bottom of large board saying "You are now entering an award-winning beach area."