A HOLIDAYMAKER from East Lancashire was swept to her death by a rip current on a New Zealand surfing beach, an inquest has heard.

Mary Elizabeth Blackburn, 20, was relaxing with friends on Opoutere Beach near Whangamata on the Coromandel peninsula when tragedy struck on January 11, the hearing was told.

An inquest in Waihi heard that Miss Blackburn, of Castill House Farm, Sawley, was swimming with her boyfriend, Edward Kieran Corby, and another friend, Adam Mercer.

Coroner Michael Curtis said there were no lifeguards or lifesaving facilities at the beach and a local police officer and member of the Whangamata Surf Lifesaving Club said conditions at the time Miss Blackburn died were not suitable for inexperienced people.

Blackburn coroner Michael Singleton received a report on the inquest at a hearing yesterday.

It said that as the friends tried to return to the beach they encountered a strong undertow, or rip.

Mr Corby and Mr Mercer were able to make their way up the beach against the current, but Miss Blackburn got into difficulties. She was unable to walk against the current and her two male companions went back to help.

All three were then washed out to sea by the current and were soon out of their depth. By the time the men reached Miss Blackburn she was panicking, the report said.

All three struggled for at least ten minutes to reach the beach and Mr Mercer, the strongest swimmer, noticed that both the others were having difficulty.

By the time he could touch the bottom Mr Mercer could see that Mr Corby had also made it to the shore. But as he turned to look for Miss Blackburn he saw her face down in the water.

The two men managed to drag her on to the beach, but there was no sign of life and they could not revive her. Both Mr Corby and Mr Mercer had bathed at the beach before but neither had experienced the undertow that gripped them that day, the report said.

The inquest heard that Miss Blackburn had been in New Zealand staying with relatives. She had met Mr Corby three months earlier and they had spent the summer together.

They had gone to Opoutere with Mr Spencer and Nicola Charleton and the two couples had been staying at a beach house belonging to Mr Mercer's parents. At the time of the incident it was the summer holiday period in New Zealand.

The coroner's verdict was that Miss Blackburn died as a result of misadventure contributed to by an underestimation of the prevailing sea conditions.