Forty reports of lost children at crowded beach

West Wittering Beach, pictured in July 2018, saw large numbers of visitors at the weekend

Parents are being warned to "remain vigilant" after a coastguard team received more than 40 reports of children missing in a single day at a crowded beach in West Sussex.

Littlehampton Coastguard Rescue Team urged families to stay together when visiting West Wittering beach after receiving a high number of emergency callouts on Saturday.

Police in Chichester said there had been "multiple reports" of lost children during the weekend heatwave, all of which "required a large number of resources to assist them in being reunited".

HM Coastguard confirmed all the children had been found safe and well.

The Chichester beach's managers had advised people not to turn up without a pre-booked ticket on Saturday, as car parking spaces were already at capacity.

The coastguard rescue team said it was "an exceptionally busy day".

It added it also had to deal with several other incidents, such as helping people who had got into difficulty in the water, administering "medical assistance" and "setting up a helicopter landing site in Chichester".

A spokesperson for the team advised parents to ensure their child is wearing a wristband with contact information written on it, which can be obtained for free from lifeguard stations.

Another suggestion was for parents to take a selfie with their children upon arrival, so search teams can see what they are wearing should they go missing.

It is also useful to pick out an easily recognisable meeting point in case families become separated, the spokesperson added.

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