If you’re too lazy or hard-up to get away from London for a beach holiday this summer, the perfect solution can be found next weekend.

Well, perfect might not be the right word because the Westway doesn’t offer quite the same views as you’d get at the Copacabana, but it’s still a fun alternative to travelling thousands of miles to get some sand between your toes.

Forty tonnes of the stuff is being shipped in to create an urban beach at Acklam Village Market off Portobello Road in the shadow of the Westway flyover.

The area will be transformed for three days of seaside holiday fun, food, drink and entertainment.

Think sunbathing, sandcastles, wind breakers, beach huts, deckchairs, carousels, bunting, puppet shows and so on.

The Westway Beach opens on Friday (June 26) with a free launch event for the community from 4pm to 9pm.

On Saturday and Sunday (June 27 and 28) the regular Acklam Village Market with take on a seaside theme and the Westway Beach will be open to the public from 11am to 6pm.

The Portobello Pop-Up Cinema will show a run of sea-related films, documentaries and live streams of the British coastline.

Part of the ninth InTRANSIT Festival of Arts, the beach has been commissioned by the National Trust to celebrate 50 years since the launch of its Neptune Coastline Campaign that has helped fund the acquisition of 574 miles of coastline.

Westway Trust chief executive Angela McConville said: ““Many local children grow up in an urban environment where they never normally have the opportunity to visit the coast, so bringing all the fun of the seaside to the Westway will be a truly exciting experience.”

Joseph Watson, London creative director of the National Trust, said: “Fifty years ago, the nation came together to save the UK’s coastline. We’re delighted, now, to have the opportunity to celebrate the success of the Neptune Coastline Campaign by bringing a little bit of the great outdoors to this corner of London.”