Even people trying to convince us to embrace the traditional Great British holiday can only take so much of Kent’s beaches.

Artist Mark McGowan spent much of the Bank Holiday weekend buried up to his neck in sand on Margate beach to highlight the benefits of UK holidays.

His intention was to remain encased in sand, surrounded by sticks of rock and fed on nothing but fish and chips, for 48 hours, but the intense heat and pressure from the wet sand caused him to call it a day on Sunday evening.

The 37-year-old Londoner said: “The sun was very strong on my head, even though I was wearing sunblock, and it became hard to bear.

“The sand was like having a plaster cast on my legs and my ankles twisted because of the amount of wet sand around them.

“Plus the weight of the sand on my chest made it quite difficult to breathe.”

Mr McGowan, who once crawled from Southwark Cathedral to Canterbury Cathedral to highlight issues of loneliness, had friends watching over him during his latest artistic venture, but the heat of the sun coupled with the intense feeling of being trapped proved too much on Sunday and he headed home for a hot bath at around 6pm.

He said: “I was disappointed not to have gone the full 48 hours, but 30 hours isn’t bad, especially when you aren’t someone like David Blaine!

“But people on the beach were really nice and positive throughout.”

He added: “I love the British seaside holiday - the stripy deckchairs, fish and chips, the sights and smells. You just can’t get that abroad.

“There are 10million people in London, and if they stayed in Britain rather than going abroad for breaks and weekends, it would put so much more money back into the tourist industry.”

Mr McGowan promised he would devise a new amazing feat in the next couple of weeks.