Five friends who drowned on a day trip to a popular south coast beach with “hidden dangers” were all fit, healthy and competent swimmers, an inquest has heard.

The five young men - who lived in Erith, Plumstead, Welling and Essex - ran into difficulties at Camber Sands beach, near Rye in East Sussex on August 24 last year.

The inquest in Hastings heard that some of them had been to Camber before without incident, and that they were keen on sports, particularly cricket and football.

Relatives of the five men, who were of Sri Lankan origin, said in statements that they were all able swimmers who would often pack up and drive to the coast for day trips.

The five victims were Kenugen Saththiyanathan, 18, known as Ken, and his brother Kobikanthan Saththiyanathan, 22, known as Kobi, both of Normandy Way, Erith, and their friends Nitharsan Ravi, 22, of Admaston Road, Plumstead, Gurushanth Srithavarajah, 27, of Elsa Road, Welling, and Inthushan Sriskantharasa, 23, of Chadwell Road, Grays, Essex.

About a month before the tragedy, two other people also lost their lives at Camber. Mohit Dupar, 36, from Hayes, west London, tried to reach Brazilian Gustavo Silva Da Cruz, 19, as he got into difficulty, but both men died. Their deaths are also being considered as part of the inquest into the five friends' loss of life.

In opening remarks, Patrick Roche, lawyer for the five victims' families, said Camber Sands - which can attract up to 30,000 day-trippers during peak season - is a beach with "hidden dangers".

He said: "The families are very keen for lessons to be learned and they are very keen that no one else suffers the same appalling tragedy as they have suffered."

Before the inquest got under way, Ajirthan Ravi, the brother of Mr Ravi, said he believed the men would not have died if lifeguards had been deployed at Camber.

Mr Ravi said: "We are just hoping that it will be more secure and safer and more lifeguards, and that people are more protected."

Arumukam Saththiyanathan, the father of Ken and Kobi, said in a statement to the inquest that they had "good swimming ability" and their Sri Lankan village was surrounded by three big rivers.

He said his sons swam in Sri Lanka almost every weekend, including at a Hindu temple, before they came to the UK when the brothers were aged 10 and 14 in July 2008.

Mr Saththiyanathan, who arrived in the UK earlier than the boys in 1999, said: "As a family, we went to the beaches in the UK nearly every summer and the boys went without us sometimes."

He added that University of Brighton business studies student Kobi, who was on a gap year before returning to his studies, loved Camber Sands and had visited there three times in 2016 before his death.

The inquest heard that the day before he died, Mr Ravi was admitted to hospital with a head injury after allegedly being assaulted as he dispersed a group of teenagers from his family's shop four days earlier.

He reported feeling dizzy and confused but a CT scan found no abnormalities and he was discharged with advice to return if his symptoms persisted.

The inquest continues.