CONGESTED roads and sweltering heat could not deter thousands of visitors from flocking to Bournemouth and Poole to enjoy record-breaking sunshine.

The weekend, in which the temperature broke through the 100F barrier in the UK for the first time ever, saw sun-worshippers lying shoulder-to-shoulder on the beaches.

Local guest houses and hotels displayed "No Vacancy" signs and there were long queues of cars waiting for parking spaces.

There were long tailbacks on the M27, M3 and A31 on both Saturday and Sunday as thousands of people travelled down to the coast to make the most of the current heatwave.

RAC spokesperson Tessa Richardson said traffic numbers were at least 20 per cent higher than usual. "The combination of hot weather, school holidays and delayed train services meant that even more people hopped in their cars and headed for the beach," she said.

In Bournemouth, beach inspectors arrived at 9.30am to unlock their stock of deckchairs and found a queue of people waiting for them.

Senior seafront inspector Brian Cummings said: "I've been a beach inspector for 21 years and I have never seen anything like it in my life.

"There was a 150ft queue of people waiting for deckchairs and as soon as we unlocked them it was literally a mad scramble where people just grabbed what they could.

"And on Saturday evening there were 50 people queuing for the freshwater showers - they were lined up right along the promenade."

All of Bournemouth's 3,500 deckchairs and 900 sun loungers were snapped up immediately but the hot and humid weather meant there was little demand for the resort's 400 windbreaks.

Mr Cummings added: "I'm used to seeing people come down to the beach early but this weekend was incredible. The car park by Bath Road was full by 7.30am and the beaches were busy by 8am.

"This current hot spell is amazing. It really is like being in the Mediterranean or Barbados."

Becky Knights, of Poole Tourist Office, said it was a similar situation in Poole. "On Saturday, all our accommodation was completely full and we were unable to help lots of people who came into our office looking for somewhere to stay," she said.

"All the beach car parks were completely full by 10am and Poole Quay was packed with people sitting outside enjoying the sunshine."