The discovery of sharp pieces of metal on a Kent beach has sparked fears someone could be "impaled" while walking along the seafront.

The jagged spikes found between Palm and Botany Bay in Margate fell off the barb-topped wall surrounding Southern Water's Foreness Point pumping station.

Cllr Rob Yates, who pulled a couple of the scraps from the sand on Saturday, suspects more could be lying out of view.

"When going for a walk along our beaches you do not expect to find sharp aluminium metal - but that's exactly what I found this weekend,” the Labour politician said.

"With so many pieces missing, this could easily lead to the metal impaling someone if they're stuck in the sand.

“This is unfortunately a significant health and safety risk and further evidence that Southern Water are not capable of carrying out basic maintenance on the facilities we rely upon."

Southern Water bosses say they have launched an investigation into how the metal found its way onto the beach.

The discovery came before a district council meeting to discuss a series of water outages in Broadstairs, for which the under-fire firm is responsible.

More than 10,000 customers in Thanet have now received compensation from the firm after they were left without supplies for days.

A burst pipe cut off as many as 20,000 homes in December, causing "gridlock" as residents queued for bottled water in Broadstairs, Manston, Margate and Ramsgate.

Cllr Yates, who attended the meeting on Tuesday, added: "I handed the fencing pieces to Southern Water bosses on Tuesday night so they could see it for themselves."

Responding to the politician's concerns, a spokesman for the company said: “We are sorry pieces of the metal fence from Margate Pumping Station were found to have fallen onto the beach at Foreness Point.

“The fence was repaired on Monday, and we are investigating how this happened.

"We would like to thank members of the public for bringing this to our attention, and we are taking this report very seriously.”