At one point several men approached the couple - and one allegedly attempted to join in

Police made two arrests at the scene before issuing fixed penalty notices

Disgusted Simon Cummins said he and his friends were stunned as they heard the woman's sexual moans while walking along the promenade on Brighton beach.

Mr Cummins, 30, had been to a friend’s stag party the night before but was up at 9am to pick up his car to travel to a charity football match, which is when he saw the display.

However, as the party passed the famous Brighton Pier, they say they first heard - and then saw - a blonde woman gyrating on top of a man on the beach.

Just yards from the sordid scene holidaymakers and children can be seen passing by. At one point a youngster points to the lewd goings on before his disgusted mother pulls him away.

The incident happened close to the pier on the public side of Brighton beach. It is near the more secluded nudist beach which is situated on the other side of the pier.

Mr Cummins said at one point several men approached the couple and one attempted to join in.

'The woman and the man didn’t look like they were druggies, or dishevelled, they looked like normal everyday people, except it looked like they were [having sex] on a beach in the middle of the day.

Mr Cummins, who was with his friends Ben Stone and Richard Jones, said the reason the trio had noticed the couple copulating was because they heard the woman’s ‘screams’.

He added: 'Ben said "what’s that noise?". We thought there was someone in trouble but when we saw what was going on we realised she wasn’t screaming for help.

'As it went on things got even worse when a few blokes seem to turn up. It was disgraceful.

'When the police finally turned up I was shocked because it seemed to me they were almost scared about approaching the couple, and then they just gave them a fine. They should have been locked up.'

A spokesman for Sussex Police confirmed officers attended the incident on Sunday.

She said: 'Police were called to Brighton beach, near West Street, on Sunday August 19 at 9am where it was reported a couple were believed to be having sex.

'Two people were arrested and given a fixed penalty notices.'