PARENTS who ignored safety warnings at the beach and allowed their children to play in a construction zone have been blasted.

Bournemouth borough councillor Phil Stanley-Watts said he saw around 30 people blatantly ignoring the ‘danger’ signs and calmly sitting down in a closed area of Southbourne beach on Sunday - while letting their little ones play just metres from diggers.

The diggers are carrying out work on the beach as part of a scheme to install eight new groynes in that area. It is part of a 17-year programme to protect against coastal erosion, costing in the region of £50m.

He saw the families as he jogged along the prom from Southbourne to Bournemouth pier and back.

Speaking to the Echo he said: “They were just sitting on the beach within the danger zone and ignoring the signs. I did speak to them about it, but I didn’t get a response. I am sure they were aware of what was going on. There are big signs warning ‘danger’.”

Bournemouth beach was jam packed on Sunday as temperatures hit 19 degrees for the start of the Easter holidays.

Cllr Stanley-Watts said he would be mentioning the incident to colleagues at the council to prevent it from happening again, especially as the summer months approach.

Bournemouth Council has reiterated on a number of occasions that members of the public should not enter the fenced or signed areas for safety reasons.

Not only because of the machinery that is on site but also because there is a risk of people getting stuck in quicksand which has occurred as a result of work to install the new groynes.

In particular the council has asked that children and dogs be supervised and not allowed to wander or stray into working areas - a request that was blatantly ignored on Sunday.

Anthony Kirby, engineering and major contracts manager for the council, has repeated the safety message. He said: “For your own safety, due to the presence of soft sand around excavations, members of the public should not enter the fenced or signed areas near the groyne works.”