A MAN has died after he was swept off a pier while fishing with a friend.

Danny Donnelly, 47, of Cramlington, was rescued after half an hour in the sea - but doctors were unable to save him.

He was fishing off the North pier at Tynemouth when he was washed into the sea at about 8pm on Thursday. As the weather conditions worsened the men decided to leave, then a large wave broke over the pier and swept Mr Donnelly over the edge into the water.

The police and Cullercoats inshore lifeboat team were alerted but he had been in the water for at least half-an-hour before he was rescued unconscious.

A police spokesman said: "Despite the efforts of the paramedics at the scene and at North Tyneside hospital, the man later died. The other man at the scene was shocked but otherwise unhurt. This was a tragic accident with no suspicious circumstances."

Paul Shawn, of the Fishermen's Mission, witnessed the rescue. He said: "I saw them pulling him out of the sea and he seemed to be in a very bad way.

"It's not surprising really. It was very cold out there, the waters were freezing. "There were lots of people watching the rescue, crowding around as they brought him ashore but unfortunately there was nothing we could do for him."

A spokeswoman for the North-East ambulance service said: "Our crew did manage to revive him. "He still needed emergency care when we took him to hospital at 9pm."

Mr Donnelly was taken to North Tyneside General Hospital where he later died.