Child stung by venomous 'weever fish' on St Annes beach

Lytham Coastguard were called to reports a young child had been stung in the sea off St Annes beach at around 7.05pm yesterday (August 3).

When crews arrived they found the child was in pain due to a wound on their foot - believed to have been caused by the casualty accidentally stepping on a weever fish.

Coastguard volunteers gave medical advice on how to treat the sting and assisted them off the beach.

A spokesman for HM Coastguard Fleetwood said: "We arrived on scene to find the casualty in pain, by the looks of the wound it looked as though they had stepped on a weever fish.

"We passed on the medical advice we could and assisted them off the beach.

"Although it is rare it can still happen and can cause a lot of pain if you are unlucky enough to step on a weever fish."

Weever fish are about 15cm long and have venomous spines along the dorsal fin.

They can be found all over Europe and often make an appearance in both the North Sea and the East Atlantic Ocean, meaning they can be found in coastal waters all around the UK.

They like shallow water and are so well camouflaged that many people do not see them until they have stepped on them, resulting in fast-acting poison being injected into the wound.

The pain - which has been described as excruciating - is at its most intense for the first two hours when the affected limb swells up.

Coastguard crews recommend the following treatments if you are unfortunate enough to step on one:

- Immerse your foot in very hot water (as hot as you can handle) for no less than 30 minutes

- Use a paracetamol to relieve the pain

- Gently remove all weever fish spines from your foot using tweezers

- Squeeze the wound to allow bleeding to wash out venom

- Clean the affected area with water and soap