Buried Camber Sands barbecue burns boy, 4

Codie McDowell was burned by a barbecue buried in the sand

A four-year-old child has been badly burned after he stepped on a disposable barbecue that was buried at Camber Sands while it was still alight.

Kirsty McGuire, from Dover, Kent, said her son Codie McDowell was left screaming with pain.

The accident in East Sussex has led his family to warn of the dangers of barbecues on beaches to prevent it happening to anyone else.

But Rother council said disposal barbecues were banned from the beach.

Ms McGuire said: "He stood on it, yelped 'just get it off me, get it off me' and that's when my brother's picked him up and all the bottom of his foot's just blistered."

'Broken heart'

She said when they looked at the sand they first realised it was bright red and then they saw the barbecue underneath it.

"How someone could just be so selfish and not put their rubbish in the bin," she said. "It doesn't take long to put a barbecue out especially with the amount of sea that's there and dispose of it properly."

She added: "I felt helpless. He was in so much pain and screaming and there's nothing that I could have done to prevent it and when he's laying there in hospital and he's 'mummy take the pain away', obviously it breaks my heart."

She said her son now needed hospital visits every three or four days for his injuries.

Councillor Simon Elford, tourism portfolio holder at Rother District Council, said: "We were very sorry to hear at the injuries received by this young boy and wish him a speedy recovery.

"To ensure the safety of everyone using this popular beach, disposable barbecues are banned and our officers carry out regular checks of the beach during busy periods."

Codie still needs hospital visits every three to four days