Rishi Sunak has kicked off his summer holiday strolling along a sun-soaked pier with his family in California.

The Prime Minister, his wife Akshata Murty, and two young daughters, Krishna and Anoushka, were pictured at an amusement park on the buzzy Santa Monica Pier on Thursday, the first day of their US trip.

Ms Murty and the girls wore brightly-coloured clothes matching the colourful parasols, rides and stalls at the famous tourist destination, while Mr Sunak donned casual shorts and espadrilles.

The family, who will be heading to Disneyland, posed in front of a Ferris wheel, at a picnic table and with an ring-toss stall offering soft toys as prizes.

Before they jetted across the pond a day earlier, Mr Sunak said it would be a “really special” trip after a few years without a “proper” family summer holiday.

He said his daughters were “very excited” about going to Disneyland before joking they fear they will spend too much time at the Star Wars experience because he is a fan.

Prime ministerial holiday photo shoots are a long tradition, with recent examples including David Cameron being snapped at a Portuguese fish market, and Theresa May hiking in Switzerland.

California is a natural choice for Mr Sunak, who studied at Stanford and worked at a hedge fund there.

He said the place is “very special to us” as it is “where I met my wife”.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is at the helm in Mr Sunak’s absence, which is expected to last for just over a week.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary said Mr Sunak will be getting “daily updates from his private office, particularly on anything that is urgent”.

She said it would be his first time off “since he became chief secretary to the Treasury almost four years ago”.

While the Sunaks were away, back home a group of Greenpeace activists scaled their North Yorkshire mansion to protest against the Prime Minister’s plans to maximise oil and gas production in the North Sea.