A woman has raised concerns about the lack of lifeguards on a busy beach.

She questioned the fact that the lifeguard tower on the beach in Hove is sometimes unmanned despite the recent hot weather.

“Why are there no lifeguards on Hove Lawns beach," she wrote in an online residents association group.

“Height of the school holidays, very hot day, the beach was heaving.

“What price for a child or person’s life Brighton and Hove City Council?”

The council lifeguard tower is supposed to be manned from the start of the season on May 25.

On the council website, it states: “Lifeguards patrol the city’s beaches from the end of May until the end of the school holidays in September.

READ MORE: Brighton beach is heaving as crowds make the most of sunny day

“During this time a team of seasonal beach lifeguards patrols the beach. Our lifeguard service also has a patrol boat.”

The council has now said that it does not always have enough lifeguards to keep all the stations open.

Councillor Mitchie Alexander, acting cabinet member for culture, heritage and tourism, said: “Having our beaches regularly patrolled by lifeguards is incredibly important, which is why we agreed funding to keep them in place throughout this summer and are exploring ways to secure this service into the future.

“We have 42 lifeguards currently working across ten beach areas but occasionally we are not able to open all our lifeguard stations due to unavailability of staff or staff sickness.

“When this is the case, a decision on which station or stations will not open is taken following strict risk assessments and we always make it clear to beach users when and where lifeguards are not able to patrol.

“We appreciate that the temporary closure of lifeguard stations can impact some people’s enjoyment of the beach. We only close stations when absolutely necessary and I would like to thank residents and visitors for their understanding.”

It comes as RNLI crews have been busy over recent weeks during periods of hot weather, with one incident in Beachy Head involving a parent and a child who got into difficulty on a paddleboard.

Sussex was recently issued a yellow heat health alert which led people to flock to Brighton beach to soak up the sunshine.