Search for little Dylan Cecil, four, feared drowned at sea

A four-year-old boy feared drowned at sea after falling off a slipway has been named locally as Dylan Cecil.

Little Dylan disappeared after he fell off a slipway 100 metres from the shore at Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, on Sunday at 6.04pm.

His frantic parents, Rachel McCollum, 27, and Darren Cecil, 30, immediately jumped in after their son - who was fully clothed in a t-shirt and shorts - to try and rescue him.

Emergency services were called when the pair, who also have two younger daughters, got into difficulty and they were dragged from the water 20 minutes later.

Paramedics treated Rachel and Darren, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, for water ingestion while lifeboats launched a search for little Dylan.

The waters off Burnham-on-Sea have the second highest tidal rise and fall in the world and are notorious for their dangerous mudflats.

A five-year-old girl died on the beach in similar circumstances in 2002 when she became trapped in the mud and swamped by the incoming tide.

The rescue operations continued throughout the night and resumed at first light today as Dylan's distraught family watched from the seafront.

Dylan had been visiting his grandmother Jackie McCollum, 47, who lives in a holiday flat in nearby Brean, Somerset, with sisters Faith, three and toddler Alice.

His parents are believed to have arrived back at her home on Sunday after a short break in Weymouth, Dorset, to watch their home football team, Kettering Town FC play Weymouth FC.

Mark Newman, a member of the Burnham Area Rescue Boat, was one of the first on the scene and witnessed the family's frantic search.

He said: "I happened to be coming down by the beach within minutes of the incident. It was a really sad and frantic sight.

"The parents of the boy were both there - they had just been pulled out of the water after jumping in to save their son.

"There was a mixture of shock and raw emotion.

"Mum and dad had ingested a lot of sea water but they didn't got to hospital. Quite clearly they were upset and didn't want to leave their son.

"They were checked over by paramedics as lifeboats began searching the water.

"My heart goes out to the family of the boy."

Tris Newey, who is leading the rescue for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, insisted that they would continue searching until the boy was found.

He said: "For the foreseeable future we will keep looking.

"The water can be quite hazardous and we are at spring tides at the moment. The tide is running quite fast across the jetty. It is quite dangerous here."

The tide at Burnham rises and falls by up to 15 metres (49 ft) - second only to the Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada - and recedes by over 1.5 miles.

It is feared the boy was swept away by the spring tide, which can reach speeds of up to four knots and is said to be strong enough to sweep adults off their feet.

Emergency services immediately began a full-scale operation and at the height of the search five Coastguard teams, six inshore lifeboats and three search and rescue aircraft were scouring the area.

Local residents from Burnham-on-Sea who arrived at the sea front to offer their help were held back by police tape, which cordoned off the jetty.

Reverend Graham Witts, vicar of St Andrews, the local church, said he had arrived as soon as he heard that the boy was missing.

He said: "I have come here to see if I can offer any help to the family, or anyone who might need it.

"The family are being supported by police liaison officers.

"I have been here for nine years and we have had nothing like this before. It is very worrying. The community here are shocked."