A PROUD father has hailed his teenager daughter and her best friend heroes after they saved his life when their inflatable speedboat overturned in rough seas.

The two 13-year-old girls together pulled the boat more than 40 yards as they swam to the shore while stricken dad John Pearce sat on the upturned hull.

His daughter Kelly and her friend Alex Bowe then helped him climb a 100ft high cliff before they reached the safety of a nearby farmhouse.

And today recovering at his home in Wingates Grove, Westhoughton, Mr Pearce, aged 46, confessed: "They are real heroes. If it was not for their bravery and quick thinking I would not be here now."

The incident happened after their boat overturned in strong currents off Anglesey and threatened to sweep them out into the Irish Sea.

They had been taking Mr Pearce's 14ft inflatable speedboat, Bad to the Bone, from South Wales to Anglesey for the winter.

But they were hurled off the craft and drifted 30 yards away from the upturned boat at 3.30pm on Saturday when they were hit by a freak wave.

They struggled to swim back to the boat in strong currents and clung to the upturned hull as they were pulled further away from the shore line.

The girls made a decision to jump into the water as the boat began drifting round the north-western tip of the island and out into the Irish Sea.

They helped Mr Pearce, who had been badly winded as he was thrown into the sea, to climb on to the upturned boat.

The girls then pulled the boat more than 40 yards to a rocky outcrop. Cold and exhausted, all three then clambered more than 100 feet up rocks in their bare feet before walking four miles across fields to the nearest farmhouse.

Mr Pearce said: "I don't know how any of us managed it. The girls are only 13 and I'm not exactly fit.

"Any one of those things would have been enough on their own but for us to have to swim and then climb and then walk four miles left us exhausted and I can't believe we did it. Both the girls deserve medals for what they did." Mr Pearce had taken the two girls to the seaside, as he did regularly, for trips on the boat. All three were wearing life jackets and had flares in the boat.

Kelly, who lives with her mother in Marple, near Stockport, said: "I didn't really think at the time how tired I was because we just had to keep going. You never think that something like that is going to happen to you.

"I don't think any of us could have done it without each other."

The accident, on Saturday afternoon, sparked a search operation which cost more than £100,000 as 50 people scoured the sea and coastline for the trio after a witness on the coast raised the alarm.

Although Mr Pearce insisted that the farmer who took them in had phoned the Coastguard, the RNLI were not told to call off the search and continued to search the area for another four hours.

Ray Steadman, launcher at Holyhead RNLI Station, said: "We found the boat damaged and with the keys still in the ignition and expanded the search.

"The cost soon starts adding up when there is a helicopter involved. We are delighted that they are safe and well.

"The particluar bit of water where we found their boat is extremely dangerous. It's amazing that they managed to scramble up the rocks."

Farmer John Roberts said he got the shock of his life when he was confronted by Mr Pearce and the two teenagers clad in life jackets.

Mr Roberts had been watching cricket on TV when the trio knocked on his window.

He got them inside, gave them a hot drink and a change of clothes. Mr Roberts said he then telephoned the RNLI base in Holyhead.

The 69-year-old, who has lived at the farmhouse for 50 years said they were lucky to be alive.

Mr Roberts said: "The climb up the cliff is perilious and they did extremely well to climb up to the top. I was especially impressed by the two girls who kept their cool at all times."