A man and his dog had to be rescued from an upturned kayak off a beach in St Ives earlier this week.

RNLI lifeguards on Porthmeor beach rescued the man and his springer spaniel Milly after their kayak started taking in water and capsized on Monday.

They were setting up the beach for the day’s patrol at about 9.45am when they received a call from the National Coastwatch Institute volunteers based on St Ives Island to the south of the beach.

They coastwatch was concerned about a man who kept falling out of his kayak.

Just as the lifeguards were taking the call, the man came round the corner and became visible.

Jack Hill and Adam Bayfield went out on rescue boards to check he was ok and offered assistance.

On arrival, the kayak had capsized. Conditions were flat calm and sunny and the lifeguards were able to pull the kayak in, with Milly the dog on top and her owner holding onto the back.

BELOW: A video of the rescue shot by RNLI volunteer Mesha Wardman

An RNLI spokesperson said: "Once on shore it transpired that the gentleman had forgotten to put the bung in the kayak which meant it was taking on water and subsequently flipped over.

"He was extremely grateful for the lifeguard’s assistance and described the experience as a good learning curve.

"Once the bung was in place and the lifeguards helped empty out the water, he and Milly set off again on the kayak."