Anger over litter left on beach

Over-flowing bins at Ogmore-by-Sea Reporter

ANGRY residents have been left to clear up after day-trippers on Welsh beaches – with one family even being spotted burying their mess in the sand.

The hot weather attracted hundreds of people to Porthcawl at the weekend, but a minority of visitors did not think twice about dumping their rubbish.

One Porthcawl resident, who wished to remain anonymous, filmed a family apparently burying the remnants of their picnic in the sand at Coney Beach.

Once they had left, she dug up the sand to reveal three empty cans of cider.

It comes after a spate of recent injuries on South Wales beaches. Earlier this month a two-year-old boy suffered serious burns to his legs after stepping on a barbecue that had been buried in the sand.

And a four-year-old boy was left screaming in pain after running over hot ash left from a fire on a beach.

Gerald McCarthy lives in Ogmore-bySea and runs the Keep Ogmore Beach Clean Facebook page which has more than 1,400 followers.

He said: “I see this incident as very serious for the potential consequences of a person or animal stepping into a rusty serrated can.

“This incident has over 350 shares on Facebook and highlights the general public concern about buried broken glass, needles and cans which have resulted in serious injury.”

A spokesman for Bridgend council said: “I saw the footage, it was appalling.”

He said bins were being regularly emptied at Porthcawl, but were filling up again quickly.

“This has been a common problem since places like fish and chip shops started serving food in thick cardboard boxes instead of paper,” he said.

“Instead of finding an empty bin elsewhere or just taking their rubbish home and disposing of it there, some people were piling it around the already full bin or leaving it on the beach.”

Further along the coast at Ogmore-bySea, most of the 20 bins along the beach were left overflowing with empty cans, used barbecues and food waste after last weekend.

It is up to beach-goers to make sure their rubbish is disposed of properly.

“The main responsibility is not with the council but the inconsiderate and selfish visitors to the beaches who have no concern for people’s safety or the environment,” said Mr McCarthy.