A young girl who overcame her fear to call 999 when she thought a swimmer might be in distress has been praised by coastguards in Porthleven.

Twelve-year-old Rebecca Connaughton had been at the beach next to the perilous Blue Buoy Steps, which is known locally to be a dangerous stretch of water, when she became concerned about a woman swimming very far out to sea.

Despite being terrified she could be “left with a criminal record” for calling, Rebecca, a year seven student at Helston Community College, plucked up the courage regardless and rang for the coastguard on her mobile phone.

In the event, the swimmer was not in difficulties and returned to the beach soon afterwards, but the coastguard team from Porthleven were quick to reassure her that someone would never get into trouble for making a 999 call in good faith – even if it turned out to be a false alarm.

In fact, they were so impressed by her actions that they made a small presentation to her at the coastguard station on Sunday evening.

Station officer Brian Spicer said: “She saw someone out to see swimming and thought they were in distress. The lady was a long, long way out.

“She was worried she was going to get a criminal record by calling. We were just amazed that although being really worried that she was going to get arrested, she actually plucked up the courage to ring 999.

“She was 12 and she was brave enough to do it. She knew it was quite a dangerous place, so she called just to be on the safe side. That’s what we were grateful for. It could have saved someone’s life.

“I just think it’s really, really good that someone of that age can do that, because a lot of people would ignore it, because they don’t want to get involved.”

By chance, a member of the Porthleven coastguard team, Mike Bates, was already on the beach, off-duty.

He said: “I could hear these kids a bit further down. They were pointing out to sea and debating how long this woman had been in the water for, and whether they should raise the alarm or not.

“Before I knew it I was getting a pager from Falmouth [coastguard station] saying it had been called in.”

As he was already on the beach, Mike went straight over to the group.

“After the swimmer got out the kids were really worried that, because she was OK, they would be in trouble. I said no way, you’ve done the right thing, 100 per cent,” he added.

Rebecca's dad said all his daughter's family were "so proud of her," adding: "That's Rebecca to a T. She always puts everybody before herself.

"She knows that if there's a situation that she should try and take control of she is a bit worried sometimes of going over the top. We always tell her we can always sort things afterwards, going with your first reaction. That's what I'm pleased to say she did."