Half a dozen World War II tank tramps, some topped with rusted metal spikes, are posing another danger in the surf at Stockton beach.
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Ongoing erosion at Stockton has exposed the triangular concrete blocks 300 metres north of the surf club in part of the beach popular with swimmers and surfers.
Stockton real estate agent Lucas Gresham fell foul of one of the blocks when he jumped into the water with his children last week.
It was a bit shocking, really. I thought all the tank traps had been removed, he said.
I just went to jump on my board to paddle out. It caught me, and the spike stuck into my leg. Only a little bit, thankfully.
It gave my shin a bit of a concave where I hit the thing. It took a bit of a chunk out of my leg.
I probably should have got stitches, but I didnt.
He said he was lucky to have been on his board.
I was going to go for a swim instead. I was like, god, if Id gone out that deep and then dived in, I would have copped that spike under the chin, I reckon, straight through my head.
Pretty scary, actually, because I usually take my little girl in with me. That would have been horrendous.
The emergence of the tank traps follows an injury to a junior lifesaver in September when he badly cut his knee on rocks from a crumbling sea wall in front of Stockton surf club.
In January, garbage started washing into the sea when erosion exposed an old rubbish tip north of Corroba Oval, prompting an expensive clean-up operation.
Some of the traps, which were positioned to stop tanks driving up the beach, have metal spikes about 10 to 20 centimetres long angling back towards the shore.
Photographs taken by the Newcastle Herald show one sticking out of the sand above a still-buried tank trap.
Three warning signs have been erected on the sand in front of the tank traps, but people were still swimming and surfing in the area on Sunday afternoon.
Heavy seas in 2015 uncovered several dozen of the tank traps near where the current blocks have appeared.
Stockton firefighter Anthony Lilley, who has been at the beach warning people about the hidden danger, said he had never seen anything so dangerous in my life when it comes to beaches.
A long-term solution to Stocktons erosion problem appears no closer, but Newcastle City Council said its parks and recreation manager and infrastructure director had met on site on Sunday to assess removing the tank traps with heavy machinery.
A council spokesperson said the metal spikes would be ground off the blocks on Monday to lower the risk of injury.
An additional lifeguard placed on duty by the City has closed the affected section of beach and additional signage has been erected to warn beachgoers of the hazards, the spokesperson said.
The removal of the tank traps would have to take place at low tide as the lifeguard could not see the traps on high tide.