A disgusted mum says she is ‘devastated’ after her friend’s two-year-old son sat on a used condom while picnicking at Exmouth’s award-winning beach.

Clare Marlow and her friend Morgan Davies travelled from Lympstone with their young children to a section of the beach opposite the Jubilee clock tower on Wednesday morning (June 26) when they made the unsavoury find.

Mrs Marlow, who encourages her children to pick up three pieces of plastic from the beach when they visit, found one of two used condoms just metres away from a public bin.

She said: "I'm pretty disgusted - it was right where we were playing.

"I picked it up with a stick and put it in the bin."

Determined not to let the find ruin their beach trip, the friends rolled out a picnic blanket at the same spot and ate some food.

However, their fun turned to horror when Mrs Davies discovered her two-year-old had been sitting on another used condom near the sea wall.

Mrs Marlow said: "She was absolutely devastated - we didn't even find the second one, out children found it.

"We had to pick that one up with a spade and bin it. We got rid of it for the people who also use this beach.

"We found two without even looking, God knows how many more could have been there.

"I think people need to have more respect. These are our beaches.

"With everything going on in the news about plastic in the sea, people should just put it in the bin.

"Have some respect for where you live and where you are visiting."

The seedy discovery was made just weeks after Exmouth's beach was recognised as one of the world's best.

Exmouth was recently announced as one of 32 winners of a prestigious Blue Flag award, an international accolade that tells the public it has one of the best beaches in the world.

Exmouth mayor Steve Gazzard, who previously told the Journal that the beach was the 'jewel in Exmouth's crown', said: "There is no need to leave stuff like that on the beach - there are plenty of bins or just taken it home."