THOUSANDS of Teessiders flocked to the seaside over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Saturday was the busiest day as the sun shone and the quietest time was Monday afternoon as many people watched Middlesbrough FC's defeat to Norwich City in the Championship play-off final.

Stephen Robinson, supervisor at the cafe at the Beacon on Redcar seafront explained that Redcar beach was "completely packed" on Saturday but there had still been plenty of holiday-makers across the long weekend.

He said: "There's people who've actually come out to get away from the football. The busiest day of the year for us is actually Boxing Day. There's a lot of people come down for a dip in the sea and then they all crowd down in here."

Christine Hodgson who has worked for Burniston's Traditional Donkey Rides on Redcar beach since 1989 and explained that the Burniston family have had donkeys on the beach for generations. In fact the Burniston family and their donkeys were first mentioned in council minutes in 1838.

She said: "It has been busy, although not quite of busy as normal for a Bank Holiday these last couple of days. Redcar has changed over the last 25 years. It was really busy at first and then died off and it really went down when they were building the sea defences. But it has picked up again a lot these last couple of years since they've made it all look a lot better on the front."