It’s not a sight you often see... and it shocked at least one South Hams beachgoer – a sex toy floating in the sea.

William Formosa, who sent us these pictures, said the blow-up woman was spotted at Beesands on Saturday. He described it as "disgraceful".

Despite our scepticism, and suggesting it was possibly a prank, Mr Formosa insisted the bikini-clad, inflatable blonde was seen floating close to the shore, sparking fears a woman had drowned.

He said: "I can assure you it was no joke at the time.

"At first we honestly thought it was a dead person floating face down.

"We panicked and alerted the local fishermen who launched a boat.

"If this was a prank, it was a very sick one. We could have rang the coastguard and wasted helicopter and emergency services' time."

Meanwhile, Drew Parkinson, a senior coastal operations officer at HM Coastguard, posting on our Facebook page, said: "Please be assured that if you are concerned by anything on the coast, you should not be concerned about ‘wasting emergency services’ time’. You should always dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard. It’s better to be safe than sorry."If you have lost a blow-up blonde, nicknamed Lilo Lil by us, call our newsroom on 01548 856353 and we will do our best to reunite you.