Tempers flared in the heatwave over the weekend after a 4x4 became stuck in the sand on a Devon beach.

Frustrations unfolded on Leas Foot Beach near Thurlestone in the South Hams on Sunday evening when a group attempted to retrieve their broken down jet ski.

Edward Griffiths, who witnessed the affair, told Devon Live that the group drove their black Volkswagen Touareg down onto the beach which soon became stuck in the soft sand.

This generated amusement to many on the beach, much to the annoyance of the group with the 4x4.

Amused onlookers watch the 4x4 struggle

"I arrived at Leas Foot Beach, Thurlestone, at 6.30pm," explained Edward.

"By the time I got there a family had already driven their VW Touareg across the golf club's private land, and down the pedestrian beach access to get down to the water.

"Apparently they had launched their jet ski at Salcombe and it had broken down over there, so they were attempting to rescue it and they had phoned the Coastguard to make them aware of their attempt.

Naturally when they tried to come back up, they quickly realised the car was stuck fast in the sand and had to abandon the jet ski and enlist the help of some extended family who were with them and some other tourists to push the car back up the beach.

The family eventually carried the stricken jet ski off the beach

"This all took about 30 minutes, during which time some of us on the beach had started to laugh about the situation and take pictures of the car.

"The family obviously didn't like this as they proceeded to verbally harass and shout at several people - myself included.

"This happened right in front of the local farmer, so they'd shot themselves in the foot in terms of a tractor potentially helping out.

Pictures from the scene show groups of people on the beach watching the episode unfold.