Beach deaths: All boat operations from Bournemouth Pier suspended after Joe Abbess & Sunnah Khan drowned

All boat operations from Bournemouth pier have been suspended, the local council has confirmed. This comes less than a week after two people died after getting into difficulty in the water.

A Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) council spokesperson said: "All boat operations from the pier have been suspended as a precaution, pending a conclusion to the police investigation.

"We are aware the investigation is complex and will consult with Dorset Police when the investigation is complete."

Joe Abbess, 17, from Southampton and Sunnah Khan, 12, from Buckinghamshire both died following an incident on May 31. A further eight people were pulled from the water and were treated by paramedics.

A boat, the Dorset Belle, was impounded by police last week following the incident. At an inquest which opened into the deaths on Monday, it was suggested that a riptide could have led to the pair drowning.

This comes just hours after new details emerged around how the victims are believed to have died. Reports suggest the pair could have been playing on a sandbar before being tipped off by the wash of a passenger ferry.

One person says they were on a sandbar to the east of the pier when the wash from a vessel “created a riptide which deluged everyone on the sandbar and effectively forced them further out to sea”.