The family of a hero who sacrificed his life to save a child want to start a charity in his name to promote awareness of the dangers at sea.

Plamen Petkov, 32, an electrician from Westmoreland Drive, Sutton, drowned while saving a girl who was being carried out to sea on an inflatable at West Wittering beach, East Sussex, on Saturday, May 26 at around noon.

The family made an emotional visit to the beach where he died to lay flowers on Sunday but they were horrified to see many people swimming in the immediate area, despite warning flags being in place.

Mr Petkov’s family have called for the Bulgarian born hero to be awarded with a posthumous honour for his actions.

A family spokesman said: "We are all incredibly sad to have lost such a special person from our lives but we are also immensely proud that Plamen was able to save the life of this young child.

"His display of concern for others was typical of the man we all knew and the way he lived his life."

Work colleagues at Vulcan Building Services Ltd, in Angel Hill, praised Mr Petkov describing him as a hero.

Director Julian Crane said: "His actions are an outstanding example of what true heroism is all about; ordinary people doing amazing things to help others in trouble or less fortunate than themselves, without any thought of the dangers involved and expecting nothing in return.

"Unfortunately for his family, friends and colleagues, Plamen has paid the highest possible price for his bravery and the world is much poorer for his passing."

Mr Petkov dived into the sea without a second thought when he heard the girl's mother shouting for help after her daughter got into difficulty in the inflatable.

When Mr Petkov reached the child she jumped from the inflatable into his arms and he managed to pass the child to another rescuer.

Mr Petkov by this point was exhausted and was dragged under the water.

The woman rescuer took the child to shore while Mr Petkov’s friend brought him to the shore unconscious.

The women tried to resuscitate him until help arrived but sadly they were unable to save him.

A postmortem held at St Richards Hospital, Chichester, found his cause of death to be drowning and an inquest has been formally opened and adjourned.

Beachgoeers have described how they watched in horror as Mr Petkov drowned after rescuing the child on the beach.

One witness said: "Me and my family saw the incident - a tragic sight and a really sad time on such a beautiful day. I feel for the family and praise the rapid response of the life guards and emergency services."

Do you know this Plamen Petkov? Would you like to pay tribute to him? Send your messages to ssleigh@london.newsquest.co.uk.

A family spokesman said: "We are all incredibly sad to have lost such a special person from our lives but we are also immensely proud that Plamen was able to save the life of this young child.

"His display of concern for others was typical of the man we all knew and the way he lived his life.

"Plamen always made time to help others, and as a family we have all been touched by his kindness and generosity which he displayed each day.

"We are grateful for the messages of support from everyone Plamen came into contact with both in and out of work - he leaves a huge gap in our lives and will be missed by us all.

"We would like to thank his friend and the woman for the huge effort they made to try to save Plamen’s life and to people for the kind comments made about Plamen and his part in returning the child safely to the shore.

"In response to the many people who have been moved by his brave act, the family would like to release his name and picture to be commemorated. We also appreciate suggestions to award Plamen with a posthumous honour for his actions.

"In these extremely difficult days, Plamen’s family want to use this unfortunate opportunity to stress their concern with the dangerous waters like those at West Wittering around the UK coast and are keen to call for additional positive safety measures to be put in place, such as stationed lifeguards, and to not just rely on signage in order to prevent future tragedies of a similar nature occurring again.

"The family are looking at how they might support the local community in this area who share this concern in the hope that these changes might be an appropriate way of honouring Plamen’s name and courageous act."

Plamen Petkov worked, on and off, for Vulcan Building Services Ltd since 2005 and all members of our organisation found him to be an extremely conscientious and hardworking person, who was universally liked and respected by both his workmates and clients alike.

He had always shown himself to be a thoughtful and caring man and while the news of his death came as a terrible shock for everyone at the company, the fact that he tragically lost his life in a completely selfless act to try and help somebody in trouble came as no surprise at all, as it was so typical of the person who had become a friend as well as a colleague to all of us, and he will be very sadly missed.

His actions are an outstanding example of what true heroism is all about; ordinary people doing amazing things to help others in trouble or less fortunate than themselves, without any thought of the dangers involved and expecting nothing in return.

Unfortunately for his family, friends and colleagues, Plamen has paid the highest possible price for his bravery and honesty and the world is a much poorer place for his passing.

Every member of staff would like to pass on their sincere and heartfelt condolences to his family at such a very sad time.