EMERGENCY rescue teams today resumed the search for a 13-year-old girl whose mother and brother died after they were swept out to sea at Scarborough.

The family trip to the resort's North Bay ended in tragedy yesterday when the girl's 11-year-old brother was dragged into the sea by a huge wave, and the rest of the family plunged in to try to save him.

The boy and his 33-year-old mother were rescued by a helicopter but were later pronounced dead at hospital. The girl is still missing, feared dead.

The mother's partner managed to scramble to safety along with another son and a member of the public, coastguards said.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the children were thought to have been playing on a slipway at high tide when the 11-year-old boy got into difficulty shortly after 4pm.

A huge air and sea search was launched which involved an RAF helicopter, Coastguard rescue teams from Scarborough, Filey and Burniston, and police and fire brigade crews on the shore.

David Warburton, sector manager for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said that about 40 people would be involved in the search operation today for the missing girl.

He said: "Last night we carried out a search until midnight, which covered a large area along the North Bay from the Sea Life Centre to Scarborough Castle.

"We searched along the rock armour and along the beach but we didn't find anything."

The woman's boyfriend and another son are believed to have jumped into the sea with an onlooker in a desperate bid to save the trio.

But they had to scramble to safety as the mother and her two children were swept out to sea.

Mr Warburton said there was no chance of finding the teenager alive.

The tragedy unfolded only yards from the Oasis caf.

Patrick Ford, who was running the caf today, said people who were not aware of the high seas were often caught out.

He said the slipway was dangerous for young people playing wave-dodging.

Mr Ford went on: "It is notorious for the big waves around here. Eight people have been killed in recent years after being swept out to sea.

"People go on to the slipway, the waves crash over them, but then drag them in and they have no chance.

"I guess the people who died in this tragedy were not from round here because everyone in Scarborough knows how big the waves can get."

lA search for a father and daughter feared drowned after they fell out of their boat into a Scottish loch was resumed today. A major search was mounted yesterday afternoon after the 45-year-old man and one of his two daughters, aged 13, fell into the loch.

New standardised beach signs aimed at reducing the number of accidents and drowning were today being unveiled by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Currently there are no standard signs.

Updated: 10:41 Monday, March 14, 2005