A dad has described how two schoolgirls helped lifeguards save a woman when she collapsed in front of them in a seafront swimming pool.

Libby Greenwood, 11, and eight-year-old Demi Ellse were enjoying a Sunday morning swim at Hythe Swimming Pool when the woman, in her early 30s, got into difficulties and desperately grasped the older schoolgirl as she sank under the water.

Libby's dad Glenn Stewart, 33, of Marine Parade, Hythe, said: "They were swimming along and my daughter got grabbed by the finger by this lady, who was unwell.

"The lady slipped under the water and started sinking to the bottom and they saw her hit her head on the bottom of the pool. Libby and Demi immediately told the lifeguards. The girls came back to the house in tears."

Mr Stewart, who works in IT, said he was very impressed with his daughter, a pupil at Brockhill Park, Saltwood, and his partner's child, who goes to Christ Church Primary School in Folkestone.

He added: "I'm extremely proud of them and how mature they were about it. The speed of their reactions probably kept someone alive."

'The speed of their reactions probably kept someone alive,' - dad Glenn Stewart

Lifeguards at the pool, in Sea Front, South Road, managed to revive the woman before paramedics arrived and have been praised by the South East Coast Ambulance Service.

Ambulance spokesman Liz Spiers said: "We were called at about 11.30am following reports that a woman in her early 30s was in cardiac arrest. We had a number of resources sent to the scene.

"By the time we arrived, lifeguards had done a great job reviving the woman, having carried out CPR. On our arrival she was making some respiratory effort.

"Treatment continued before she was transported to the William Harvey Hospital for further treatment."

Police were initially called to the pool as well but were not needed.

A spokesman said: "Police were called to Hythe Swimming Pool at 11.30am on Sunday following a report of a female swimmer in distress. She was revived and taken to hospital."

Shepway District Council, which runs the pool, has been approached for a comment.