Lure of seaside proves too strong for nation at loose end

‘I think it’s an overreaction. What’s the solution

– are we going to drive all these people off the beach?’

Patrick Sawer, Luke Mintz

Martin Evans

IT IS a portrait of a nation at a loose end. Tens of thousands of people headed to beaches in the middle of the working week yesterday as the national “hibernation” appeared to have collapsed completely.

Across the south coast, beaches were packed with people defying social distancing rules, while roads were gridlocked with traffic.

In the seaside town of Bournemouth, the council even declared a “major incident” owing to overcrowding, a measure usually reserved for floods, fires or terror attacks.

Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, appealed for calm while Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, threatened to close down beaches unless people stayed away.

Policing chiefs warned of a “summer of discontent” and disorder after pubs finally reopen on July 4.

Yet with nearly nine million people still on the furlough scheme, and with lockdown on its last legs, some questioned why the authorities seemed so surprised.

The public had, after all, been told by the Government that they could meet up in groups outdoors, and it was again the warmest day of the year.

But in Bournemouth the sheer volume of people who made their way to the beaches during the past 48 hours appeared to catch the council by surprise – so much so that it declared a “major incident”, claiming its services were “completely overstretched”.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council said extra police patrols had to be brought in to protect refuse crews, who it said faced “widespread abuse and intimidation” as they emptied overflowing bins.

Police were forced to deal with “a number of incidents reported which involved excessive alcohol and fights”, the council said, and the owners of beach huts complained that daytrippers were using the back of their huts as lavatories.

In response, Mr Hancock warned he had the power to close beaches, adding: “The virus doesn’t respect that it’s a hot summer’s day.”

Prof Whitty added: “If we do not follow social distancing guidance then cases will rise again.

“Naturally people will want to enjoy the sun, but we need to do so in a way that is safe for all.”

On Bournemouth beach, crowds of topless men queued for pints at the bar, largely ignoring signs asking them to keep two metres apart. Teenagers blasted music out of sound systems. Police tended to a crying child who had lost his mother. Groups of young people splashed around in the sea, with little social distancing in sight.

Police cars struggled to make it on to the beach because of illegally parked cars, while virtually nobody was wearing a face mask – and those who did were regarded as an oddity.

One visitor, who gave her name only as Jill, was in Bournemouth with her friend for a week-long trip from Macclesfield, Cheshire. “All day Monday and Tuesday it was dead, there was nobody here. And now all these people have descended on us. It’s like Armageddon – I wouldn’t sit on the beach,” she said.

Nearly 40 tons of rubbish were collected while the council said it had issued a record 558 parking fines amid scenes of motorists leaving vehicles on pavements in defiance of double yellow lines as car parks overflowed.

But some questioned whether the numbers who travelled to Bournemouth were any different to those on a sunny summer bank holiday, and wondered whether the council was making excuses for being unprepared.

Steve Wood, 58, who spent most of the afternoon sat on the seafront with a