THE furious mum of a teenage boy who nearly drowned off Bournemouth pier has condemned a young couple who laughed at him and refused to help.

Alex Norian was screaming in panic after getting into difficulties but a couple in their 20s, just feet away from him in a dinghy, ignored his pleas.

Now Alex’s mum, Helen Thomas, has urged young people to take care at the beach and has also praised her son’s friends, who managed to drag him to safety seconds before he disappeared under the water.

Helen, who lives at Matchams, said Ballard School student Alex, 15, and his friends had swum out to a buoy at around 2pm on Tuesday and were swimming back to the shore when he got into trouble.

“He hit an under-current and was struggling and swallowing water.

“The couple in the dinghy were just leering at him and Alex thought he was going to drown.

“We are so very grateful to his friends Bradley Threse and Tom Baker, who managed to swim out to him and get him back to the beach.”

Alex added: “I had swallowed quite a lot of water and I was struggling to breathe and keep my head above the water – I felt like I was losing all the strength in my arms and legs.

“By the time I got back to the beach I couldn’t stand up and I was dizzy with an unbelievable headache.”

Helen said Alex, who is in the middle of GCSEs, was badly shaken by his ordeal but still managed to go to school to take his German exam the following morning.

The incident comes as thousands of teenagers hit the beach at the end of exams and in the hottest week of the year so far.

Temperatures are set to soar into the 80s at the weekend and lifeguards have urged people to follow basic safety advice.