Police officers have launched an investigation after 'thousands' of nails and sharp objects were strewn across a Tynemouth beach.
Early morning swimmers at King Edward's Bay on Sunday were furious to discover that nails, screws, wires and batteries were littered across the sand. Groups of swimmers and members of the public immediately started collecting huge bags full of the sharp objects before alerting the police.
Northumbria Police have now confirmed that "enquiries are ongoing" into the incident, meanwhile North Tyneside Council cleaning teams are stepping up patrols at the beach.
READ MORE: Tynemouth swimmers' anger at finding 'THOUSANDS' of giant nails scattered across beach
A force spokeswoman said: “At around 8.15am yesterday (Sunday) police received a report of debris on King Edward's Bay, Tynemouth. It was reported there were a number of nails, shards of metal and batteries on the sand.
“The matter was referred to the council for clearing. Police enquiries are ongoing.”
Swimmer Mallory Smith, who was at the beach for a dip at around 7am said it was shocking to see the nails littered across the sand.
The 69-year-old member of the community group, Totally Tynemouth, said she was alerted to the dangerous objects by a fellow swimmer before joining in the clean-up efforts.
"There were thousands of nails there," Mallory said.
"People have no idea where they came from. Someone said it looked like roofing nails. Some were an inch long and if they were pointing upwards and someone put their foot down on them it could have been pretty nasty.
"Lots of people were picking them up and collecting bags and bags full. I made a report at 9.30am to the police and dropped one of the bags off at Silverlink police station."
North Tyneside Council said it has taken "every precaution" to ensure the beach is clear but urged people to take care because the changing tide makes it impossible to say the sharp objects are all gone.
Sam Dand, director of environment at North Tyneside Council, said the council was "shocked and appalled."
“We are incredibly proud of our award-winning beaches and work hard with the local community to keep them clean, safe and well-maintained," she said.
"We have employed extra teams over the summer to supplement our existing environmental maintenance teams.
“Like our residents, we are shocked and appalled by this incident. We would like to thank those who spent time cleaning up the beach on Sunday morning.
"We clean the beaches every day throughout the summer months, and we also have specialist equipment to rake and sieve the sand to remove smaller pieces of debris. Our seasonal teams have been alerted to the incident and are increasing patrols in this area to help keep it safe and clean for users.”
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