LONDON (Reuters) – A carefree sailor has been rescued from his toy dinghy one mile (1.6km) off the coast of Redcar in north east England after being dragged out to sea by strong currents.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution said the unnamed man, carrying a paddle and wearing shorts and a hooded jumper, risked his life as he could have drifted much further in his inflatable raft on Monday evening.

“When the lifeboat arrived last night the crew asked him why he was there as you heard on the video, and quite honestly he thought he was having a great time and was going to be fine,” RNLI Redcar Lifeboat Operations Manager Dave Cocks said on Tuesday.

Lifeguards said the incident highlighted the need for more people to respect the water.