Swimmer ‘appalled’ by rubbish on beach

Dawn Smith, of Alexandra Terrace, Worthing, was shocked the level of rubbish left by beach-goers, who were enjoying the summer heatwave at the weekend.

And although beach office staff were working hard to clear the mess, Mrs Smith was left ‘appalled’ by those who left the beach in a mess.

She said: “It is unbelievable. There were broken bottles all over the beach and with kids and families there, it’s dangerous.

“If people can carry things down to the beach, why can’t people carry it back?

“There are plenty of bins along the seafront. It’s appalling.”

Mrs Smith ended up lending a hand and helping to clear up several carrier bags of rubbish.

She believes there should be more efforts made to stop those who leave litter to dissuade people.

She said: “I just think the behaviour of some people is moronic. Perhaps we should put more CCTV cameras up

“When I was three, I stepped on glass on the beach and I just hope it doesn’t happen to someone else.”

Senior foreshore inspector Graham Cherrett said the beach office did all it could to clean up, and regularly received compliments about the seafront’s cleanliness.

He said: “We have litter pickers out every day and they clear things up as they find it.

“I don’t think the amount of rubbish left over the weekend was unusually high.

“People do neglectfully leave things on the beach, and it would be nice if they did clear up, but we do our best.”

He added: “At the moment, the beach looks very clean, right the way along.”

County councillor for Worthing Pier Michael Cloake said visitors to the beach were a positive thing for Worthing, and it was inevitable there would be some mess.

He said: “I know the council are working very hard to clear it all up.

“When the hot weather comes, people do come out and enjoy it, and unfortunately with people comes mess.

“On balance, the fact the beach was busy is a positive thing for the town and we want people to come to the beach.”