A FIVE-year-old Herefordshire boy who died at the weekend in Wales after jumping out of an inflatable dinghy which had drifted out to sea was today named by police as Ryan Ingram from Kington.

The boy, who died last Saturday, was playing in the sea by the popular beach resort of Saundersfoot, near Tenby, west Wales, when the accident happened.

It is the second similar tragedy to hit the Two Counties after Lelaina Hall died when she became trapped in mud flats on the Somerset coast during a weekend away.

The five-year-old, from Barbourne, in Worcester, was discovered floating in water on Berrow beach, near Burnham-on-Sea on Sunday, June 23.

A spokesman for Milford Haven Coastguard said they received a call at just after 11.40am from a lifeguard at the beach, who reported that a boy had drifted a "few hundred yards" out to sea in a toy dinghy.

Drifted away

"Apparently the father had swum out to try and rescue the child who somehow had drifted away from him," the spokesman said.

"But he failed to reach him, and at some point he saw the child jump into the water."

Tenby Coastguard, police and ambulance crews and an RAF rescue helicopter from RAF Chivenor in north Devon were scrambled to the scene.

Ryan, who had been in the water for around 10 minutes, was found after a brief search and brought ashore by the coastguard, the spokesman said.

Paramedics tried but failed to resuscitate the boy on the beach.

He was airlifted to Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, but was formally pronounced dead at 1pm.

Fiona Warren, spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said although the boy's parents were with him at the beach, he had taken the dinghy out to sea without their permission.

"It was a tragic and unfortunate accident," she said.

She added that the winds in the area had been force two to three, at the time of the incident.

An inquest into the death of Ryan was formally opened and adjourned yesterday until a date to be set at Milford Haven Coroner's Court.