Whitebait freebie on Hove beach

Families enjoying the September sunshine on the seafront at Hove, near Brighton, had a pleasant surprise when a seafood feast washed up on the shore.

Many scrambled to grab some of the thousands of whitebait before hungry gulls could swoop down and beat them to it, with a number of people taking bags full of the tiny fish home to cook for dinner.

It is a mystery why the fish have beached themselves on the seafront in the past few days. One theory is they are being driven ashore in a desperate attempt to escape shoals of mackerel and even dolphins.

Wriggling in the shallow water, the whitebait were then left stranded when the tide went out.

Thousands more washed up on nearby Seaford Beach.

On the Brighton People Facebook page, one person advised how to cook the whitebait: “Light dusting of flour and deep fry!”