A BIZARRE seaside spectacle is rivalling traditional tourist attractions as new beaches are blasted into existence.

Thousands of tonnes of sand and gravel are shot through the air and on to the shoreline between Holland-on-Sea and Clacton.

Twice a day for almost two weeks a dredger is sending an impressive arc of sand hundreds of feet towards the shore at high tide.

Large crowds have been gathering to watch the operation – called “rainbowing”.

It is part of a giant £36million coast protection scheme designed to prevent 3,000 homes slipping into the sea over the next 100 years.

The scheme will also rejuvenate beaches where much of the sand had been washed away by storms, leaving beach hut owners with views of mud instead.

More than 20,000 cubic metres of sand is being dredged up from a site 15 miles off the coast.

It will form platforms for more than 20 new fishtail groynes built of rock shipped in from Norway.