Chris Christie, New Jersey governor, enjoys beach he closed to public - BBC News
Aerial photos show New Jersey's Chris Christie at a state beach he ordered closed over a budget row.
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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is facing heavy criticism after he was photographed relaxing on a state beach he had ordered closed to the public.

The Republican gave the go-ahead for non-essential services to be shut down - including the Island State Beach Park - over the 4 July holiday weekend because of a budget impasse.

"I didn't get any sun today," he said, before the aerial photos emerged.

The pictures show Mr Christie and his family on an otherwise empty beach.

Other visitors were turned away by police.

The governor defended his actions on Monday morning, telling Fox News that he had said earlier in the week he intended to spend time with his family at his beach property.

"The governor is allowed to go to his residences," he said.

Mr Christie said his family was spending the weekend at the governor's residence there and he was commuting to work by state helicopter.

"That's just the way it goes. Run for governor, and you have can have a residence there," he said at a news conference on Sunday.

"I didn't get any sun today," he added.

After being told of the photographs, his spokesman Brian Murray admitted Mr Christie had "briefly" been on the beach "talking to his wife and family before heading into the office", NJ.com said.

"He did not get any sun. He had a baseball hat on," Mr Murray reportedly added.

The image of Mr Christie lounging in a deckchair quickly spawned several memes, as Twitter jokers transplanted the governor to alternative locations.

Submissions included the Oval Office, and the beach from the 1953 classic film From Here To Eternity.

The partial government shutdown arose because New Jersey legislators had not passed a health insurance bill that Mr Christie said had to be approved alongside the state's budget.

The shutdown included the closure of Island State Beach Park, one of New Jersey's few free public beaches, and all other state parks.

Mr Christie had been trying to get the state's largest health insurer, Horizon Cross Blue Shield, to hand over $300m (£230m), some of which Mr Christie wanted to use to battle drug addiction, the New York Times reported.

New Jersey is one of at least nine states that were unable to meet their budget deadlines at the beginning of the month.

Mr Christie and his family had been staying at a residence in the beach park