Beaches in the North West left covered in rubbish and broken glass following hottest day of the year

Sunseekers flooded to North West beaches yesterday to enjoy the hottest day of the year, but some left them littered with rubbish.

Many people have taken to social media to express disgust at the state of the beaches and other beauty spots following the hottest day of the year, where crowds of people headed to the beach in search of some sun.  

A dog walker this morning found Formby beach covered in plastic soft drink bottles, beer bottles and bottle caps. 

One also pointed out the danger of leaving glass bottles which get broken and hidden under the sand, causing a danger to adults and kids playing on the beach.

Formby beach was very busy yesterday, with Merseyside Police heading down to crack down on large groups that were ignoring social distancing rules.

Officers have now put a dispersal zone in place until Friday afternoon. 

Insp Graham Fisher said: “We’re aware of the significant impact that anti-social behaviour can have on individuals and communities, and we will be targeting people we suspect of being involved in this type of behaviour in the area.

“We would like to thank the vast majority of you who are adhering to social distancing measures and protecting the wider community.”

Other people noticed how busy Blackpool Beach was yesterday, with one Twitter user stating: “This shows there are people willing to risk catching Covid 19 for a bit of Sunshine”.

This isn’t the first time a nice bit of weather has meant the beaches have been covered in litter. Back in June when the lockdown was first eased, many people flooded to the beaches and other beauty spot leaving them covered in litter and in an ‘absolute disgrace’.

Formby Beach is part of the National Trust and the charity urged people to be respectful of the area at the start of June. 

The General Manager of Formby Beach said on June 1st: “During the easing of restrictions, we ask people to use good sense and be respectful of other communities when deciding to travel for their daily exercise.

“If National Trust Formby becomes overcrowded, we may need to make the decision to close [and] we advise members of the public not to visit immediately and visit us another time.”

Blackpool saw masses of visitors yesterday, with the rubbish left behind taking volunteers from The Big Blackpool Beach Clean Up group four hours to clean overnight. 

In a post on their Facebook group a volunteer said she was ‘absolutely shattered and aching all over’, but promised they will be back this evening to clean the beach up again after, they expect, more crowds will flood. 

Cleaning up litter costs taxpayers over £1 billion a year in street cleaning and everything from a cigarette butt to a big bag of rubbish is classed as littering.

It’s important to remember littering is an environmental offence that will lead to fines if caught.