Lifeguards will be funded to keep watch on bathers at Camber Sands throughout the summer following the tragic deaths of seven people last year.

The RNLI is now recruiting for lifeguards to be stationed on the beach with Rother District Council (RDC) due to formally approve £51,000 of funding in its budget for this year.

Councillors will sit at the end of the month to confirm the council’s spending plans for the next year and has already allocated money to fund a much demanded lifeguard service following the deaths.

Once approved it means RNLI lifeguards will be present on the beach throughout the summer season from Whitsun (June 4) until the end of the summer holidays in September.

RDC says it has been working on developing a “beach and water safety plan” since the tragedies in July and August last year with a recommendation that lifeguards should be employed.

Lifeguards were stationed on the beach for the end of the summer after the deaths of five friends from south east London in August, a month after two men died.

Seven people died on the beach after getting into trouble:

Father Mohit Dupar and 19-year-old tourist Gustavo Silva Da Cruz, in July, and exactly a month later, brothers Kenugen and Kobikanthan Saththiyanathan and their friends, Nitharsan Ravi, Gurushanth Srithavarajah and Inthushan Sriskantharasa.

The inquest into Mr Dupar and Mr Silva Da Cruz’s deaths heard a statement from Mr Dupar’s son, Ankush, who said his father had tried swimming out to rescue Mr Silva Da Cruz.

This statement has been contested since the inquest hearing by Robert Cass, Rother District Council’s coastal community officer, who is responsible for leading the team at Camber Sands.

The first incident on July 24 prompted an online petition demanding the council employed lifeguards and has more than 8,000 signatures.

Tony Leonard, RDC’s executive director of business operations, said: “Safety at Camber is kept under constant review, taking into account the prevailing risks and available resources.

“In recent years we have introduced a wide range of measures to improve safety on a beach that, prior to the tragic events of last summer, has always had a very good safety record.

“However, the beach is three miles long and up to 700m wide at low tide, therefore it can never be completely risk-free.

“Inquests into the drownings last year are awaited and we will of course carefully consider the coroner’s findings into the causes of these deaths and act on any recommendations the coroner might make.

“Our policy remains that we will review and adapt safety provision to address changes in the circumstances at the beach and a lifeguard service will allow us to do this and to provide reassurance to the public.”