Fundraising RNLI hiker has tent slashed at Whitburn Beach

Tracey Hannam is visiting every RNLI station as she walks around the coast

A fundraiser who is walking the coast of Britain for the RNLI has had her tent slashed and batteries stolen as she camped on a Tyneside beach.

Tracey Hannam said someone also urinated in her walking boots on Sunday night at Whitburn Beach, South Tyneside.

She said she was "absolutely disgusted" but had been overwhelmed by the kindness she had been shown since the attack.

Northumbria Police are investigating.

Ms Hannam is visiting every RNLI station as she walks the coastline and has been wild-camping in her tent, which she has called Aggie.

She said she was lower down on the beach when she saw "five young people having a laugh" nearby, although she "didn't think anything of it".

Tracey Hannam has been wild camping in her tent, which she has called Aggie

But when she returned she found her tent open, big slashes in the top and side of her tent, her shoes and belongings had been scattered around the floor and the tent's guy lines had been pulled out and pegs thrown around.

"I was absolutely disgusted and shocked," she said, adding: "I'm so appalled any human being could do that."

She said Reynolds Outdoor Centre in Sunderland came to her aid by "doing surgery" on her tent, adding Aggie "has her scars but has been fixed", while RNLI crews in Sunderland and Hartlepool had bought her new boots.

Ms Hannam said the response from the RNLI and the "wonderful people" that came to her aid showed "human kindness at its best".

She said: "The people in Sunderland 90 million percent override what those young people did to my tent.

"Out of something bad, something good always happens.

"My heart is just bursting."

She began her walk in Cornwall's Kynance Cove in June 2020.