BEACHGOERS were greeted with an unpleasant sight - and smell - when hundreds of thousands of dead fish were found washed up along the shore.

Visitors to Seaford described the sight as “odd” and “scary" and said they had never seen anything like it.

Sherrie Fox, 54, of Medina Place, Hove, went to the beach on Sunday with her boyfriend.

She said: “It was a very hot day. We got to Seaford Head at about 1.30pm and saw dead fish and jellyfish along the beach.

“As far as my eyes could see, it was a long line of dead silver fish. We saw some flopping around trying to get back into the water.

“So my boyfriend and I picked them up and put them back into the water.

“There were a few other people trying to save the fish. I was also surprised to see dead jellyfish.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. It was a very scary sight.”

Another beachgoer, Julie Harrison, said: "It was very, very odd and very disturbing.

"My brother came down from London with his family and they were really looking forward to going to the beach but it was so stinky.

"There were so many dead fish it was just horrible.

"A lot of people came down to swim and changed their mind. It spoiled the day for hundreds of beachgoers.

"You could see all these silver fish along the coast, they were all floating in the water.

"It was like fish soup. The whole beach stank of dead fish.

"Some fishermen said they had never seen anything like it.

"There was also half a dead gull and a dead pigeon floating in the sea."

James Corrigan, clerk of Seaford Town Council, said: "This is actually quite common at this time of the year because the mackerel are hunting the silver whiting..

"The whiting get trapped by the beach so hence we see dead ones on the shore. 

"A lot of fishermen come to catch the mackerel. But I am not sure about the jellyfish."

The Environment Agency said they are not responsible for clearing up the dead fish and jellyfish.