Our hard-working staff removed a staggering 31 tonnes of rubbish from the beach and seafront at the weekend after what’s been described as the biggest and worst two days on record.
Despite our teams working constantly from 5am to 9pm each day, they were still ‘completely overwhelmed’ by the amount of rubbish being dumped by the mass crowds of both tourists and locals who flocked to the seafront.
The previous record for seafront rubbish in one single day was 11 tonnes on 25 June last year.
Higher than previous record last year
However, our beach cleaning staff, some of whom have worked with us for more than 15 years, say Saturday and Sunday’s collections were even higher both days at 13.6 tonnes and 12.5 tonnes respectively.
Even after a late evening pick up on Sunday, another 5 tonnes had accumulated overnight which we collected this morning (Monday 19 July).
Despite repeated calls from the council for people to bin their rubbish responsibly or take it home, some residents and tourist are still leaving waste on the beach or dumping it beside an already full bin.
'Astonished and furious'
Council leader Phélim Mac Cafferty said: “I’m astonished and quite frankly furious at the people that create this kind of mess on our beautiful beach and seafront.
“They are quite happy to visit our beach and city, but then have absolutely no respect for it. They should be ashamed.
“They couldn’t care less about the effect they’re having, or the environmental damage they’re creating.
“If these people really can’t find a bin then they should take their rubbish home. Leaving waste on the beach or beside a bin is anti-social and they shouldn’t do it.”
Extra measures have been put in place
Councillor Mac Cafferty added: “Although we’ve put out extra bins, more staff, more vehicles, are carrying out more collections and installed CCTV cameras, the sheer volume of people dumping their rubbish sees our beach overwhelmed.”
Our environmental enforcement officers also patrol the beach and seafront handing out fines and giving people advice on disposing their litter.
However, one of the main problems in fining people who leave their waste on the beach is catching them. No one leaves litter if the officers are around, but do when they’re not.
This is one of the reasons we’ve installed CCTV cameras on the seafront which will help us catch more people who litter.
'Litter is everyone's responsibility'
Councillor Mac Cafferty said: “Keeping our beaches and seafront clean, tidy and litter free is everyone’s responsibility, not just the council’s.
“There are more than 500 bins along the seafront, so there’s absolutely no excuse for leaving litter on the beach or beside an already overflowing bin.”