Angry residents have condemned 'scum' visitors after beaches were left strewn with litter following the Bank Holiday heatwave. Thousands descended on the coastline over the long weekend as temperatures rocketed to a scorching 35C across swathes of Britain. However, visitors to Weymouth Beach in Dorset caused widespread outrage after abandoning mountains of rubbish - including empty booze cans, burst inflatables, soiled nappies and plastic toys.
Volunteers from the Weymouth and Portland Marine Litter Project expressed their disgust at the state of the beloved seaside destination. Hundreds of discarded plastic beach toys were strewn across the sand alongside heaps of waste and overflowing bins. Despite rubbish bins in the vicinity being packed with bags of waste, numerous visitors appeared to disregard the customary 'take it home' beach etiquette.
Clean-up Efforts
The environmental conservation group spent several hours gathering more than 10 bags of litter during an evening clean-up effort. Sunday proved no improvement either – with volunteers uncovering a record seven soiled nappies dumped on the beach. The collected waste will now be sorted to distinguish recyclable materials from those destined for incineration.
A representative from the Weymouth and Portland Marine Litter Project explained: 'People sometimes wonder why we clean the beach in the evening when we could just leave it for the council the next morning? All this rubbish including plastic toys and nappies was below the high tide line and would be in the sea by morning. Why people find putting rubbish in the bin rather than next to it too difficult is beyond me.'
Public Reaction
Members of the public expressed outrage over the situation. One individual commented: 'Suns out, scums out.' Another remarked: 'And they say dogs make a mess.' One user posted: 'Broken Britain', while another stated: 'Just bone idle, too lazy to put the rubbish in the bin.'
Record Temperatures
Temperatures reached a scorching 35.1C in London on Bank Holiday Monday, breaking the record for warmest temperature ever recorded in the UK during the month of May. The identical record had been surpassed merely 24 hours previously on Sunday, when the mercury hit 33.4C at Kew Gardens. Prior to last weekend, the hottest May day had remained unbeaten for 82 years, when 32.8C was registered across the south-east of England.
Temperatures are anticipated to stay in the mid-to-high 20s throughout much of the nation this forthcoming weekend, before dropping back towards the seasonal norm next week.
