A Truro police officer has opened up about the tragic death of a two year old girl which inspired him to start the CoastSafe campaign.

PC Andy Mulhern was on the scene when a toddler and her dad were brought into Treliske Hospital after being dragged into the sea at Fistral Beach. Neither of them survived.

He says: "Personally, I had some issues with my daughter when she was born and the death of that little girl who was a similar age to my daughter at the time really, really affected me and that is what burdens and drives me to do more.

"I really don't want to see another death of that magnitude around our coast, any death, any harm to anybody where it's preventable. These deaths are sadly wholly preventable.

"That incident profoundly affected me, but I looked at it holistically and I said 'well, we've got all these agencies involved in that rescue, what are we all doing to try and prevent incidents such as this happening again."

CoastSafe is his "brainchild," and is focused on both educating the public about safety around the coast and implementing practical measures to make sure people stay safe.

One of these measures involved supporting the Royal Lifesaving Society's Don't Drink and Drown campaign where they trained bar staff and security guards around Custom House Quay in Falmouth to save lives.

Another campaign saw CoastSafe teaming up with Cornwall Samaritans to place plaques in key locations around the coastlines to try and divert people away from self-harm in moments of crisis.

You may have also seen their poster campaign around Cornwall educating people about water safety and directing them towards the campaign's official Twitter feed: @CoastSafe_DandC.