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The shocking scenes prompted Government officials to warn that a full easing of lockdown measures is dependent on everybody following the current rules. It comes as five people were reported to have died during the week’s heatwave. Yesterday, local authorities and volunteers began clearing up tons of rubbish at seaside resorts, including bottles and hippy crack canisters left by “selfish” visitors.

Coastal towns including Brighton, Bournemouth, Blackpool and Scarborough faced massive clean-up operations.

In Bournemouth, an army of volunteers began restoring the beach to its normal state after it was trashed by visitors.

More than 30 tons of litter was left strewn on the seafront after the resort was deluged by an estimated 250,000 people and turned into a “war zone”.

One shameless family was photo-graphed walking away from a huge pile of rubbish they had left that included empty cans of beer, plastic carrier bags and disposable barbecues.

Shockingly, many of the large public bins on the seafront remained only half-full.

Canisters which contained hippy crack laughing gas were left strewn at many locations, in addition to empty cans and bottles.

There was also a clean-up mission on the North East’s beaches after drunk revellers fought on the sand and dumped bottles and cans. Police made a number of arrests following trouble on Thursday as record numbers visited the beaches in the NorthTyneside area.

A video shared on social media showed men fighting on the sand, close to where family groups sat enjoying the afternoon sunshine.

Brighton also saw huge numbers of visitors, where scenes of fighting and disorder were also reported.

Environment Secretary George Eustice yesterday issued a stark warning to the public. He said: “We do need people to work with us on this. The quid pro quo, if you like, for further easements, for further steps, to open pubs and restaurants, people have to observe those social distancing guidelines that go with it.”

He said the sheer volume of those enjoying the sun, sea and sand had been “concerning” but he hoped such scenes would be “short-lived”.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said beaches could be closed if the public continued to ignore social distancing.

Mr Hancock said he was “reluctant” to go down the route of shutting public spaces as “people have had a pretty tough lockdown”.

But he added that if there was a spike in the number of coronavirus cases “then we will take action”.

A swimmer has become the fifth person to die during this week’s heatwave after getting into trouble in front of his son at a Cornish beach – two days before lifeguards were due to return.

The man, who was in his 30s but has not been named, lost his life after getting into difficulty while swimming with his son at Porthcurno Beach, near Land’s End.

He was treated for cardiac arrest on the beach but paramedics were not able to save him.

The death follows that of a woman in her 50s who collapsed on Worthing Beach on Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, a boy of 10 had drowned in a loch in Scotland.

Police in Berkshire yesterday confirmed two men had died after getting into difficulty swimming in Lulle Brook in Cookham, Berkshire.

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