A beachgoer has warned “someone will get hurt” after the sand was left covered in broken glass following a busy weekend.

Lucy Lyons was taking her daily walk along the promenade at Walpole Bay in Margate on Monday when she saw the “depressing” sight of smashed bottles.

The artist recalled: “Monday mornings are always bad in the summer season, but just today was particularly bad because of the sheer amount of broken glass - not just the usual mess.

“It was really depressing and I think it was malicious as well because people had obviously spent time breaking them and smashing them.”

Furthermore, Ms Lyons worries a child will step on the glass and hurt themselves, particularly since her friend’s son gashed his foot on the beach last week.

“I absolutely worry about children being hurt on the beach - or anything with feet or paws,” she said.

“It's dangerous for litter-pickers to collect, and hard for them to dispose of safely.

“Also, it’s hidden under the sand - there's loads of it, I only saw the surface.

“Someone’s going to get hurt.”

Ms Lyons believes the glass had been left on the beach overnight, fearing “loads had been washed out to sea”.

The beach-lover says such mess is “very difficult” to clean up.

“It's just so hurtful to see that people have such little care - not just about the space but themselves, because they are hurting absolutely everything by doing this,” added the 54-year-old.

“We have to stop harming ourselves, hurting the animals, hurting the environment.”

While Monday’s debris was especially bad, Ms Lyons says she “prepares herself” every week for the weekend’s aftermath.

“The narrative is that it's only tourists who do this,” she explained.

“We have to get rid of this fallacy that it's them versus us.

“Every human being has a responsibility.

“We absolutely can't educate every single person; they're not going to take their stuff, people are not going to listen.”

As well as the smashed bottles, discarded plastic toys were also seen.

“People think it’s youths but those buckets and spades are left by grown adults,” she said.

The Margate resident would like to see more bins - with dustmen emptying them every day in the high season - and litter picks along the coastline to combat the littering problem.

She also wants to warn people not to tread barefoot along the shore and be careful while walking their dogs.