Appeal to track children on beach

Coastguards were called out to deal with 45 missing children in one day

Coastguards in Kent are backing a campaign urging parents to keep track of their children while on the beach.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is offering wristbands to write phone numbers on so lost children can be reunited with their parents.

It comes after Dover Coastguard was called out to search for 45 children at Camber Sands, Sussex, on 1 August.

Coastguards around the UK co-ordinated 316 search and rescue operations on the first weekend in August.

'Extremely distressing'

A Sea Smart Survey, conducted by the MCA, showed nearly one-fifth, or 18%, of parents lost sight of their children while on the beach last year.

The waterproof wristbands being given out by the MCA can be worn by children with a mobile number on so parents can be contacted.

The bands can be collected from tourist information centres, lifeguard stations and coastguard offices.

John Astbury, the UK's chief coastguard, said: "When children go missing it can be extremely distressing for both parents and the children themselves and could have fatal consequences.

"The Sea Smart Beach Bands are a way of reuniting children with their parents as quickly as possible before a tragedy occurs."