A woman in her 40s has been rushed to hospital in a life-threatening condition after she was rescued from the sea close to a hovercraft port.

The incident happened near to the Hovertravel slipway at Clarence Pier, Southsea, Portsmouth, at about 5.30pm this evening.

Contrary to earlier reports, a Hovertravel spokesman said its Solent Flyer craft, which travels from the city to the Isle of Wight, was not involved in the accident.

However, it’s crew were alerted after the woman’s body was seen floating in the water.

A spokesperson said: ‘The pilot landed safely and the service is operating as normal. The person has subsequently been recovered by the emergency services and the police are dealing with the matter.’

The woman was rescued from the sea by the Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (Gafirs) before she was brought ashore at Old Portsmouth and taken to hospital by ambulance in a life-threatening condition.

A Coastguard spokeswoman said: ‘HM Coastguard received multiple 999 calls about an incident near the hovercraft slipway in Southsea, Portsmouth.

‘Portsmouth coastguard rescue team, Gosport independent lifeboat and the search and rescue helicopter from Lee-on-Solent were sent, in addition to MoD Police vessels from Portsmouth Harbour and the South Central Ambulance Service.

‘A woman was pulled from the water and passed into the care of the ambulance service.

‘The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) and Hampshire Constabulary have been informed.’

A spokesman for Gafirs said: ‘We were alerted at 5.30pm, launched within six minutes and on the scene within four minutes.

‘We recovered the casualty, brought her into Camber Dock in Old Portsmouth and handed her over to the ambulance service.’

A South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) spokesman said: ‘The incident in Old Portsmouth earlier was in relation to a woman in her 40s who was found unresponsive in the water by the Coastguard and recovered to Camber Dock lifeboat jetty where they were met by our team comprising two ambulance crews, a paramedic team leader and an emergency doctor.

‘After initial treatment the patient was then taken to the Queen Alexandra Hospital where she was handed over to colleagues in the emergency department in a life-threatening condition.’

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