Signs have been put up on a beach after a child had a terrifying ordeal when he sank up to his waist in quicksand.

The three-year-old boy was playing in rockpools with his mother on Carrickfinn Beach in Co Donegal last weekend when he suddenly began to sink.

Despite the pools being only two to three inches deep, he sank up to his waist in just seconds.

The boy's mother, Diane Robinson, managed to pull the toddler out and she clung on to a rock before they both scrambled to safety.

The relieved mother posted a warning to other beach-goers on Facebook.

"I had no leverage to pull him out so I had to get in beside him, and I sank to my thighs," she wrote.

"Luckily I could push him up and out and use a rock to get myself out.

"But a child by themselves, or a family pet, might not be able.

"I've walked Carrickfinn Beach for years and never experienced what I did yesterday, and I just want others to be fully aware."

Donegal County Council has now placed warning signs in the area.

Local councillor Michael Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig said there had been a number of "close calls over the years and it would not bear thinking about what could have happened here".

Irish Independent