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"Highest Ever" Rubbish Count From Brighton's Beaches

Overflowing bins (stock image © Flickr user Oatsy / Creative Commons)

The statistics are in: 31 tonnes of rubbish were taken away from Brighton and Hoves beach and seafront, after what the city council called the "biggest and worst two days on record".

A spokesman claimed the teams were still 'completely overwhelmed' by the amount of rubbish being dumped by tourists and locals — despite working from 5am to 9pm.

The previous record for seafront rubbish in one single day was 11 tonnes on 25 June last year, according to Brighton and Hove City Council.

But last Saturday and Sunday, beach cleaning staff — some of whom had worked with the local authority for more than 15 years — said 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 was collected on Monday morning.

Beach and seafront visitors have repeatedly been asked to take rubbish home, and never dump it near a bin that is already full.

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 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." 

He added:

"Although we've put out extra bins, more staff, more vehicles, carrying out more collections, have installed CCTV cameras, the sheer volume of people dumping their rubbish sees our beach overwhelmed." 

Environmental enforcement officers also patrol the beach and seafront handing out fines, and giving people advice on disposing of their litter. 

But the council believes one of the main problems in fining people who leave their waste on the beach is catching them in the act.

There are more than 500 bins along the seafront, leaving little excuse for improperly and illegally disposing of rubbish.

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