The woman was still attached to her surfboard when she was rescued

Police are trying to identify a surfer who was rescued from the sea off Dorset after she became unconscious.

The woman was attached to her surfboard when she was pulled from the water off Boscombe beach by RNLI lifeguards.

She was taken to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital where she is in a serious condition.

Police are appealing for help in trying to identify her. She is white, thought to be in her 20s, about 5ft 7in, blonde, with a pierced lip and nose.

She is slim, has blue eyes and was wearing a black O’Neill wetsuit.

‘Very distinctive’

Officers said she was also using a “very distinctive” surfboard, which was “aqua blue in colour with J P Liquid Solutions, the name of the manufacturer, written on it”.

Mike Latto was filming a documentary about the building of Europe’s first artificial surf reef off Boscombe, when he caught the rescue on camera.

Sgt Alexander Smith, of Boscombe police station, said: “So far we’ve been unable to identify the lady and it appears that she may well have been surfing on her own.

“I’d ask anyone who recognises the lady from this description to call Dorset Police urgently so that her family and friends can be contacted.”