A mum-of-two saved a woman’s life on a Spanish beach – but all she got was a telling off from a lifeguard.

Charlotte Hall, 30, turned heroine on a family holiday to the Costa Blanca but didn’t get a word of thanks. Yesterday six lifeguards saved three adults on the same beach.

Sales rep Charlotte, of Lepton, plunged into the sea after hearing a woman and her daughter screaming for help.

The woman, aged about 50, and her daughter, about 10 or 11, were being sucked out to sea by a vicious undercurrent.

Although just yards from the beach the Spanish woman and her daughter had strayed into a buoyed off danger zone.

While others on the packed beach looked on, Charlotte and another man dashed to the rescue.

Charlotte defied the current to pull the woman towards the beach allowing her to scramble to safety while the man rescued the girl.

The family were on a two-week holiday in Campoamor, near Alicante, when the drama happened.

Charlotte said: “It was all over in less than two minutes and I had no time to think.

“When they got back to the beach the woman and her daughter just disappeared and the lifeguard came running up shouting in Spanish.

“He was obviously angry that we had gone into this cordoned off area.

“I didn’t know what he was saying but it was clear what he meant.

“I didn’t expect a bunch of flowers but a ‘gracias’ would have been nice.”

Charlotte was on holiday with her partner Jamie Dutton, 44, daughters Freya, three, and 19-month-old Elsie.

Also with them was Lepton building firm boss Andrew McGuire, 49, his wife Liz, 43, and their five children Eliot, Edward, Freddie, Jasper and Wesley.

Charlotte’s mum and dad Joyce and Tony Hall, of Emley, were also there along with family friend Janet Clay and her son Josh.

Jamie works with Andrew, who is also a coach at Newsome Panthers RL club.

Jamie Dutton with 19-month-old Elsie (left) and three-year-old Charlotte on the Cala Capitan beach
Jamie Dutton with 19-month-old Elsie (left) and three-year-old Charlotte on the Cala Capitan beach

The family were staying in a rented villa and visited the Cala Capitan beach almost every day.

“It’s a lovely beach and the sea looks so calm but close to the shore there’s a sudden drop and the current sweeps round and pushes people towards the rocks,” said Charlotte.

“I was in a shallow part – so shallow that I was sat with Elsie on my knee but close by is the buoyed off area.

“When I heard the woman and her daughter screaming I could see them swimming frantically but not getting anywhere.

“It was scary but I just handed Elsie to my mum and went in.

“We’ve heard that this is a dangerous beach where people have been swept to their deaths.”

Charlotte, a strong swimmer who enjoys snorkelling, said she never took her eyes off her children near the sea.

“Even at the water’s edge you never know,” she said. “When you swim in the sea you can’t take anything for granted. Don’t mess with Mother Nature.”