Man leaves friend's Merc stuck on beach

A young driver has been left red-faced after leaving his friend's new Mercedes bogged in sand at a Sydney beach.

Hornsby man William He, 25, was driving a white hatchback to deliver food to a group of friends who planned to watch the sunrise together at Dee Why beach, News Corp reports.

Mr He bogged the car in sand about 3am on Tuesday and the car had to be removed by an excavator at a cost of about $500 soon after midday.

"I wasn't looking carefully enough and didn't know it was prohibited to drive on to the beach," Mr He said. "So I just got a lesson from the cops this morning."