A seven-year-old boy who spent 20 minutes in the sea off the coast of north Wales before being rescued was recovering in hospital on Monday.

The boy got into difficulty after the inflatable dinghy he was in drifted out to sea and flipped over, throwing him and his uncle into the water off Point of Ayr near Prestatyn at 1700 BST on Sunday.

Luckily we were able to locate the boy in the water

Holyhead Coastguard spokesman

The youngster was picked up by the crew of a local fishing boat - his uncle managed to swim to shore.

An RAF rescue helicopter, from Valley in Anglesey, airlifted the boy to Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan.

He was later transferred to the intensive care unit in Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital.

During the search for the child, his father made desperate attempts to reach the boy, but was beaten back when he got out of his depth.

The boy, from Southend-on-Sea, was on holiday with his family at the time of the accident.

'Barely alive'

A spokesman for Holyhead coastguard said: "There were two fishing vessels, the Jensen and the Merlin, in the area at the time so we called them in to help search for the boy.

"Luckily we were able to locate the boy in the water.

"We were alerted by a member of the public on the beach who were called from a mobile phone."

The spokesman said it was lucky he was found quickly but at the time he was described as barely alive and added that the accident could have been avoided.

His parents have extended their thanks to all those involved in the rescue.