A man in his 30s has died after being swept away by the current off the coast of Wirral at the weekend, the Echo reports.
Merseyside Police said the Coastguard was called to a man who had fallen from his kayak on Saturday at Caldy.
West Kirby RNLI said its crew was launched within 10 minutes and after finding an empty kayak requested the launch of Hoylake RNLI’s hovercraft and the HM Coastguard helicopter.
They said: "West Kirby Lifeboat commenced a search pattern to attempt to locate the casualty as did Hoylake RNLI’s hovercraft from the opening of the estuary adjacent to Hilbre Island.
"Flint RNLI’s inshore lifeboat was also launched and a search of the Welsh side of the estuary carried out.
"West Kirby's BV206 tractor searched the waterline alongside a search of the shoreline by local HM Coastguard units."
Another kayaker who was also in the water managed to return to shore unaided.
The second man was located by the coastguard helicopter and transferred to a hospital in Liverpool, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: "We can confirm that Merseyside Police were called to the death of a man in his 30s rescued from the water off the coast of Caldy on Saturday 12 June.
"Around 5pm we received a report from the Coastguard that a man had fallen from his kayak into the water and was swept away by the current.
"The man was rescued by the Coastguard and taken to hospital via helicopter. Sadly, he was declared deceased a short time later. The man’s next of kin have been informed.
"The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner."
