The two men rescued from a rip by a mystery bystander near Brighton yesterday were drunk, it has been revealed.
Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen, of Dunedin, said the two men, aged 41 and 35, were intoxicated when one of them became caught in a rip at an unpatrolled stretch of beach south of the Brighton Domain.
The other intoxicated man went to help but was also caught in the rip, he said.
"The other guy thought that he'd be a saviour and he got taken out as well.''
The incident has spurred a surf life-saver to issue a warning about beaches at Ocean View and south of the patrolled beach at Brighton, which she says are dangerous and riddled with rips.