Temperatures reached up to 25°C as the area’s miles of sandy beaches drew visitors for seaside day trips and staycations.

Bournemouth recorded footfall figures of 564,000 across the town centre and beaches, rising to 640,000 when combined with nearby Poole.

The popularity of this stretch of coast – crowned by TripAdvisor as the UK’s best beach for a second consecutive year in their Travellers’ Choice Awards 2019 – is further proven in statistics from the destination’s seafront team, who hired out 2,047 deckchairs, 941 parasols and 784 sunbeds across the Easter weekend.

The team also took 149 day or weekend beach hut rentals across the bay and sun seekers tucked into 30,000 ice creams.

On most days, the car parks were full by lunchtime and the resort’s iconic land trains ran at maximum capacity, adding evening trips to meet demand and transporting a total of 1,900 passengers.

Jon Weaver, head of resort marketing and events for BCP Council said, “It’s fantastic to see people flocking here in large numbers so early in the year. We are, and have always been, a popular destination in the summer months and it’s great to be able to showcase the resort in the Easter sunshine.

“With great transport links – Bournemouth is just under two hours from London by train – we hope more people will realise just how easily they can reach award-winning sandy beaches, picturesque seaside hotels and family friendly attractions.”

Dubbed ‘the coast with the most’, Weaver said families are well looked after along this stretch. LV=KidZone is a child safety scheme that works by giving children free, colour coded wristbands that match up with clearly marked zones along the seafront. “Specially trained staff are then on hand to help, and this weekend saw 20 people found and reunited,” he added.