A suspected spinal injury saw red flags raised over Gyllyngvase Beach at the weekend as lifeguards helped a man who had been “pitched onto a sandbank.”

Dickon Berriman, RNLI lifeguard manager, said a strong easterly wind on Saturday saw a dumping short breaking choppy sea develop and at high tide it was meeting with sandbanks that had formed on the beach.

“The casualty was pitched in to a sandbank by the sea and was complaining of pains in his back,” Dickon said.

Two lifeguards on duty stopped people swimming so they could concentrate on getting the person out of the water, assisted in the task by a former lifeguard who happened to be on the beach at the time.

“As a precaution the casualty was treated as if he had a spinal injury and was then taken off to hospital,” Dickon said.

At the last update, the man's condition was not known.