THE highest ever amount of rubbish has been collected from the beach in one weekend.

Furious Brighton and Hove City Council Leader Phélim Mac Cafferty blasted those who littered "our beautiful beach and seafront" as he warned CCTV now looks over key areas.

Council cleaners 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".

The mercury in Brighton and Hove reached up to 29C on Sunday as Britons basked in the hottest weather so far this year.

The Argus: People enjoy the hot weather on Brighton beach. The hottest day of the year so far was recorded in all four UK nations on Saturday and forecasters believe it could be even warmer on Sunday. Picture date: Sunday July 18, 2021. PA Photo. Photo credit

Thousands flocked to the seafront, with many leaving their mess scattered across the pebbles.

Cllr 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 affect 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.”

Cleaning teams worked "constantly" from 5am to 9pm each day. They were "completely overwhelmed" by the amount of rubbish being dumped by the mass crowds of both tourists and locals.

The previous record for seafront rubbish in one single day was 11 tonnes on June 25 last year.

Council staff, who have worked cleaning our city 15 years, say Saturday and Sunday’s collections were even higher, with 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 the council collected on Monday morning.

This comes despite repeated calls for people to bin their rubbish responsibly or take it home. However, some residents and tourists are still leaving waste on the beach or dumping it beside an already full bin.

Cllr 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 of 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.

“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.”

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