MYSTERY surrounds the death of a 30-year-old man who was recovered from the beach at Bournemouth at the weekend.

The man from the Southampton area drowned after getting into difficulties in the sea just after 7pm on Friday night.

He had gone 25 metres out to sea in a rowing boat with three friends when the incident happened - the depth there at high tide is as little as two metres.

The man was brought to shore at Durley Chine by members of the public where lifeguards and paramedics battled to revive him. He was taken to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

A post-mortem examination concluded that he died from drowning.

The coroner's officer is carrying out an investigation into the man's death but police are not treating it as suspicious.

Jon Weaver, marketing and events manager for Bournemouth borough council, said: "He came down late Friday with a group of people and they went out in a small boat that they had hired.

"We don't know what happened but the next thing we knew this young man was being dragged out of the sea.

"There is no suggestion that anything suspicious happened at all, the lads were extremely well behaved and it was a lovely calm evening.

"We are now waiting for the coroner's officer to find out exactly what happened."

More than 100,000 people flocked to Bournemouth beach on Friday to enjoy the scorching heatwave.

The incident comes just a month after Wais Kakar, 27, died following a collision with a boat after swimming out of the buoyed area close to Bournemouth Pier.

In a statement Bournemouth Borough Council said: "We can confirm that a young man from Southampton was recovered from the beach at Durley Chine at just after 7pm on Friday August 8."

"Bournemouth Borough Council extends its deepest sympathy to his friends and family."

Police and the Coroner's office are investigating the incident.

A jetskier, who received a serious back injury off Ballard Down, near Swanage, was taken by helicopter to Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester on Sunday.