Five young 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 heard.

The men, including 23-year-old Inthushan Sriskantharasa of Chadwell Road, Grays, ran into difficulties at Camber Sands beach, near Rye, 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 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, south-east London, and their friends Nitharsan Ravi, 22, of Admaston Road, Plumstead, south-east London, Inthushan Sriskantharasa, 23, of Chadwell Road, Grays, Essex, and Gurushanth Srithavarajah, 27, of Elsa Road, Welling, south-east London.

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."

Consultant forensic pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer recorded a cause of death of immersion (drowning) for all five victims who died last August.

Mr Sriskantharasa, a Tesco shift manager, fled conflict in Sri Lanka where he witnessed his mother die in a shelling in 2009. His father died from a brain haemorrhage in 2002.

He was on a day off from work on the day he died at Camber alongside his friends. His uncle Sivapragasan Thavarasa said he had seen him swimming in the sea, describing him as a "very able swimmer".

Inthushan had been to Camber previously and, although had not undergone swimming training, he had been informally tutored by his Sri Lankan elders.

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 before they came to the UK when the brothers were aged 10 and 14 in July 2008.

The brothers' mother Jegaleela Saththiyanathan said both were "physically fit" with no physical conditions, adding that they played sport at a district level in Sri Lanka.

Mr Ravi's father Nagaratnam said in a statement that his "fit and healthy" son, a University of Brighton aeronautical engineering student, was a "competent swimmer" who could swim 100m easily.

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 heard that Gurushanth Srithavarajah was a student and part-time Tesco shop assistant who spent the first 12 years of his life living near the sea in Sri Lanka.

Rother District Council agreed in February to allocate £51,000 in its 2017/18 budget to bring in seasonal lifeguard cover following demands for safety to be increased at Camber.

Council officials have said the beach, which is three miles (4.8km) long and nearly half-a-mile (700m) wide at low tide, could never be completely risk-free but they were determined to boost safety.

The inquest was adjourned until 10am on Tuesday.