A north Norfolk beach welcomed the entire British Isles on its coast as part of an eye-catching initiative to promote the county's marine life.

North Norfolk News: A sand drawing of the British Isles was created on the beach at Cromer. Picture: DONNA-LOUISE BISHOPA sand drawing of the British Isles was created on the beach at Cromer. Picture: DONNA-LOUISE BISHOP (Image: Archant)

Hosted by Norfolk Wildlife Trust, the sand drawing event saw professional company Sand in your Eye create the outline of the British Isles, before inviting members of the public to add their marine drawings around the edge.

One of the organisers, Bex Lynam, said more than 1,000 people, including families and youngsters, had attended the event and had great fun drawing their own creations on the beach next to the pier.

A marine advocacy office for the Trust, she added: 'It was a fantastic day on the beach which saw more than a thousand people join in, especially children.

'Our aim was to get the public involved and also use this as a way of representing filling up the sea area with marine life.

North Norfolk News: A sand drawing of the British Isles was created on the beach at Cromer. A team from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Keeping it Wild Youth Team created a sand crab. Picture: DONNA-LOUISE BISHOPA sand drawing of the British Isles was created on the beach at Cromer. A team from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Keeping it Wild Youth Team created a sand crab. Picture: DONNA-LOUISE BISHOP (Image: Archant)

'It's all about letting people know what lives in the sea near them and we are really lucky in Cromer to have such a varied mix of marine life, especially with the famous Cromer crab.'

A giant octopus, dolphins, crabs, and seahorses were just some of the animals drawn onto the sand using stencils provided by Sand in you Eyes, as well as freehand.

One group which had its buckets and spades at the ready was a team from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Keeping it Wild youth team.

On a visit to the sea side town for the week, the group created a three-dimensional crab out of the sand.

North Norfolk News: A sand drawing of the British Isles was created on the beach at Cromer. More than 1,000 people took part. Picture: DONNA-LOUISE BISHOPA sand drawing of the British Isles was created on the beach at Cromer. More than 1,000 people took part. Picture: DONNA-LOUISE BISHOP (Image: Archant)

Youth leaders Laura Bacon and Jamie Shortland assisted with the build.

Ms Bacon said: 'It didn't take us too long. We wanted to do this to pay homage to the Cromer crab.'

Mr Shortland added: 'It was all hands on deck to create our crab.

'We spent the morning having an interesting talk at the RNLI in Cromer too, which was really great for the group.'

North Norfolk News: A sand drawing of the British Isles was created on the beach at Cromer. Picture: DONNA-LOUISE BISHOPA sand drawing of the British Isles was created on the beach at Cromer. Picture: DONNA-LOUISE BISHOP (Image: Archant)

At the event, postcards of marine life for children to colour were handed out. The postcards were addressed to the Prime Minister to give children the opportunity to write a letter to Theresa May to explain why they wanted her to help protect the sea.

A sand sculpting extravaganza will take centre stage today , Sunday August 12, between 12.30pm and 5pm on Lowestoft beach, next to Claremont Pier.