Lyme Regis' sandy beach shut for dredging as hot spell begins

Huge piles of sand are on the beach at the seaside resort during dredging works

As temperatures are set to soar a sandy beach on the Jurassic Coast is closed for harbour dredging works.

The works started on Front Beach in Lyme Regis - the main sandy beach at the seaside resort - on 6 June and are set to finish on 24 June.

Dorset Council said the timetable for the works had been revised "to avoid disrupting the local Queen's Jubilee celebrations".

It now plans to open "the majority" of the beach on Friday evening.

The council said it was working to re-open "the majority" of the sandy beach by Friday evening

The peak of the temperatures is set to be Friday when parts of England are expected to experience highs of 33C (91.4F).

The UK Health Security Agency issued a level two alert for southern and central England - the first this year.

The council said: "Obviously, we cannot predict when a heatwave will occur.

"We had already revised our scheduled works at Lyme Regis to avoid disrupting the local Queen's Jubilee celebrations during half term."

Dorset Council said the works were revised to avoid disrupting the local Queen's Jubilee celebrations

Katie Vellacott, from the Beach House Cafe at the resort, said: "There's no doubt that it's necessary - but what an eyesore.

"One customer mentioned it looks [sic] like we had a pyramid in front of us from Egypt.

"We appreciate that it needs to be done but why at this time of the year."

The pebble section of Front Beach and Lyme's three other beaches - Monmouth Beach, Church Cliff Beach and East Beach remain open during the works.