Bournemouth's seven miles of sand were filled by 15,000 sun seekers

As the UK recorded the hottest July day since records began, the balmy weather enticed thousands to the beach.

The town's tourism head, Mark Smith said: "We're now getting temperatures that are the same, if not better this week than parts of the Mediterranean."

Bournemouth council estimated 15,000 sun seekers hit the seven miles of beach on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman said: "Bournemouth tourism does well even when the weather is not scorching like today but a heatwave certainly helps."

Despite the high heat bringing people to the beach in Dorset, the coastguard reported few emergency calls.

"If we hadn't had cloud we'd probably have had a lot more calls," a spokeswoman for Portland Coastguard said.