Hero seven-year-old girl who just learnt how to swim saves her friend from drowning

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Brave Amber Horton sprang into action after spotting her friend Kieran Martin slip off rocks and fall in the water.

Little Kieran couldn't swim and struggled to keep his head above the water.

Using every ounce of her strength, Amber swam over to the stricken child and pulled him to the surface.

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Amber Horton (right) with her mother Dee and four-year-old Kieran

Then she dragged him back to the shore at Lee-on-the-Solent, Hants.

Amber, from Titchfield, near Southampton, Hants, said: "I had told Kieran to be very careful but he just slipped.

"He can't swim and his feet couldn't touch the floor.

"I swam over and grabbed him from the water." Kieran was extremely shaken but suffered only cuts to his legs from the rocks.

The youngster, from nearby Fareham, Hants, said: "I was very scared.

"I went under the water and hurt my legs on the rocks. I was under the water for a long time - then Amber saved me."

The pair were at the seaside for an outing with their families.

Amber, Kieran, his cousin Max, five, and brother Dominic, seven, had all wandered over to the water's edge while other family members were in a nearby playpark.

Amber's mum Dee Horton said: "The first I knew about it was when Kieran's brother Dominic ran over and said Amber had just saved Kieran's life.

"It was terrifying. Kieran was frightened and distressed.

"He couldn't move and was crying his eyes out.

"I think Amber's phenomenal. She's just learned to swim herself and she's had no lessons. I can't believe she did it.

"She's a very brave little girl and we are all very proud of her."

Drowning is the third most common cause of accidental death among children under the age of 16.

According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, learning to swim may help children who find themselves in difficulties in water, but it does not mean they will be safe.

Latest figures show more than half of children who drown can swim.

In total 14 children under the age of 14 drowned in accidents at home in the UK in 2005 - eight of those were in home swimming pools or ponds.