This is the first time the banners have been used in the UK

Banners are being flown this weekend to alert parents to the dangers of children using inflatables unsupervised at sea.

Forecasts of offshore winds at many of the south coast's busy beaches have prompted coastguards to issue the warnings.

An aircraft will be flying on Sunday between Hayling Island, near Portsmouth, to Camber Sands in Kent towing the message "Danger - offshore winds! - coastguard".

"This is the first time that Coastguards in the UK have used this type of medium which has proved popular and successful in the United States for advertising purposes", said Peter Brown, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's accident prevention manager.

"We intend to try this method in the UK where possible, in an effort to impart urgent safety messages to a large and diverse population around our beaches," he continued.

He said the combination of busy beaches and offshore winds would inevitably cause many inflatable craft not tied to the shore or supervised properly by adults, to blow out to sea - with or without children on board.

In the Camber Sands area alone, Dover Coastguard had already dealt with dozens of such incidents this season.