A selfless beach-goer helped clear away dozens of pieces of broken glass from a popular coastal destination.

Rich Broome was horrified to discover a broken bottle sticking out of the sand on Margate beach because he feared someone could have been injured.

But after he picked it up during a stroll with his girlfriend on Friday, they started noticing more glass scattered across the area.

He has since warned visitors to be vigilant.

A shocking image taken by Mr Broome shows the huge amount of glass he and his girlfriend helped clear.

"That particular evening, there were horses being ridden along the beach, kids and teens running towards the water - mostly bare foot," he said.

"Without much trying, over what I would estimate would be 100 yards we collected nearly 140, mostly large, broken bottles and other display glass."

Residents and beach-goers have long-complained about litter - including bottles and nitrous oxide cannisters - being strewn across the beach by louts.

There were renewed calls last year for visitors to the seafront to dispose of their litter properly.

The council vowed not to be "caught with its trousers down" again after it came under fire following horrendous scenes of overcrowding, violence and litter on the beaches last summer.

Few will forget the horrors on Thanet's beaches last year when thousands of sunseekers flocked to the coast as lockdown restrictions were lifted, coinciding with a heatwave.

The hot weather this weekend saw sunseekers flock to Margate's beach.

And Mr Broome is concerned the amount of glass across the coastal destination could seriously injure visitors.

"I think it should be brought to people’s attention," he added. "At the worst, someone could put something through their foot but if they were to fall, who knows what could happen."

A dozen litter stations were installed in January along the seafront in a bid to tackle waste being dumped on the beach by louts.

They will be placed around Margate's coast and aim to "normalise" the idea of picking up rubbish and encourage everyone who visits the seaside to do their bit.

The new "TidyPac" stations are similar to the existing Tikspac dog waste bag dispensers, which were installed by the council across the district in 2016.

But the latest ones are much larger in size and provide a free recycled plastic bag to encourage people to collect litter instead.

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