A SANDY beach has started appearing close to York's River Ouse as workers prepare to give residents and visitors a taste of life at the seaside this summer.

The YO1 Beach Club is being created in Tower Gardens, near Skeldergate Bridge.

Four brightly coloured beach huts have been built on the sand which will serve teas and coffees, ice creams, as well as beach apparel and toys.

The Press reported last month that the club will comprise a wood-panelled covered café and veranda with a boardwalk entrance across a beach area styled with striped deckchairs, bunting, and lobster pots.

There will also be an open barbeque serving a choice of delicious grilled food as well as a menu for kids. The café menu includes refreshing mocktails, milkshakes and coke floats as well as coffee and a non-alcoholic range of drinks. Kids birthday and party packages are also available, with advance bookings being taken.

A separate canvas-covered children’s sandpit will keep kids entertained as well as sheltered from the sun or rain, with a dinghy to climb aboard, a seahorse treasure hunt and educational boards about preserving the environment of our seashores and oceans, as well as safety at the seaside and around rivers.

The club will support two charities - the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) whose search and rescue service has been saving lives around the UK coast for nearly 200 years, and York Rescue Boat, an independent lifeboat and search and rescue team centring around the Rivers Ouse and Foss.

It is being produced by Coopers Marquees, a family-run, York-based business which is now the 10th largest marquee company in the UK with a national reputation for excellence. The company supplies a range of structures to events large and small including York Racecourse and The Great Yorkshire Show.

The Press reported last month that the club is due to open on Thursday, June 24 and run until Sunday, September 5.