STRONG swimmer Len Richardson scored an unexpected holiday hat-trick when he plunged into the Mediterranean to rescue a drowning tourist.

For remarkably, saving the elderly holidaymaker from the waters off Minorca marked the third successful sea rescue in the space of eleven years for Mr Richardson.

On the last day of his holiday with his wife Liz, Mr Richardson, of Union Street, Seaham, County Durham, was lounging on the beach when he saw an elderly couple in difficulties as they battled their way out of the storm-hit area.

While the woman managed to fight her way back to the beach, her husband was swept out to sea by a strong undercurrent.

Former Dawdon miner, Mr Richardson, 50, a training instructor with the Mines Rescue Service, at Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside, swam out more than 50 yards through the rough sea to rescue the struggling Norwegian tourist.

Mr Richardson, a former water polo player for Northumberland and Durham, said: "The old chap had swallowed a lot of salty water, was exhausted and semi-conscious. He wouldn't have lasted long in those conditions.''

And it must have seemed like history repeating itself for Mr Richardson, who has been sea diving for 30 years and is a founder member of the Seaham Sub Aqua Club.

In 1992, he helped rescue a fisherman when his boat capsized off the north Scottish coast and three years later rescued another fisherman in distress off the Sunderland coast.

He said: "The Norwegian man came to see me after receiving treatment in hospital.

"He didn't realise there was such a strong current and said he thought he would have drowned had I not got him.''

Mr Richardson's boss, Adam Allan, manager of the Houghton Mines Rescue Station, said: "This is just typical of Len. He's a brave strong chap - just the man to have around if there's a problem."