The manager of the beach where three-year-old Abbie Livingstone-Nurse suffocated under a mountain of sand has warned the tragedy could happen again.

Phillip Drew, manager of Upton Towns beach, Cornwall, said he saw other holidaymakers digging sandpits on the beach the day after Abbie, of Goring Road, Goring, died.

He said there was nothing to stop a similar tragedy happening on sandy beaches around the country, including Sussex beaches like Bognor, Littlehampton and Camber Sands.

And he said that, other than lifeguards warning people it was dangerous and to fill in pits before leaving the beach, there was little they could do.

He said: "If you put signs up what would they say - don't dig in the sand? People come to the beach to build sand castles and dig pits.

"For a number of years we have been saying people shouldn't be digging pits and that adults should fill them in.

"In this particular case the girl was 4ft underground, trapped by two tonnes of sand. The only thing that was going to get her out was a JCB. We can't have a JCB on standby at the beach.

"Our safety message is to always look after your children at the beach and make sure you know what they're doing."

Abbie was crushed on Sunday afternoon when the walls of the sand pit she had been digging with her five-year-old brother Joe collapsed on them.

Yesterday, Abbie's devastated family released more pictures of her playing just days before she was killed.

The family snaps show the three-year-old, who was known as Abbie Doodle-do, grinning impishly at the camera as she played with her five-year-old brother Joe and other relatives.

Abbie's mum Pippa Livingston and stepfather, Ian Sayer, returned to the family home on Monday under police escort.

Abbie's father Fraser Nurse, 34, from Tangmere, said: "Abbie was a lovely, unselfish little girl and this has come as a terrible shock.

"She was the most caring, loving and amazing little girl you could imagine. She was a wonderful daughter and I am absolutely devastated by what happened.

"She and her brother Joe were inseparable and if anything she always looked after him. The circumstances do not bear thinking about. I am totally shocked."

Abbie's grandparents, Harvey and Julie Nurse, of Arundel Drive, Wick, near Littlehampton, spoke of their grief. Mr Nurse said: "Abbie was a real live wire. She was full of beans - you couldn't hold her down. She was a little tomboy always climbing about but she never fell over.

"We've been in shock since we were told. It's just so sad."