Beauty spot visitors told to ‘show respect’ after litter and parking shame
FELLOW FOREMARK GUESTS ALSO HIT OUT AT ‘SELFISH’ BEHAVIOUR
SEVERN Trent has moved to remind visitors of the rules in place at a South Derbyshire beauty spot after police slammed visitors who brought “a day of shame” there at the weekend.
Officers were forced to close roads surrounding Foremark Reservoir, near Repton, on Sunday, with 27 fixed penalty notices handed out after several cars were deemed to have been left dangerously parked.
Etwall, Hatton and Hilton Safer Neighbourhood Team took to social media to strongly criticise some of the visitors, including a man urinating in public, and a “selfish” driver who left her child alone in the car on what was one of the hottest days of the year so far.
Now, the water company which owns the reservoir has issued a statement in response to the weekend’s events, which also saw large amounts of litter, including plastic bags and bottles, left behind on the 85-acre site.
Severn Trent has reminded visitors there are still social distancing measures in place, including closing the car park when it reaches full capacity – as it did at around 1pm on Sunday.
Visitors are urged to turn back if the car park is full, rather than parking on grass verges or neighbouring roads as dozens of motorists did at the weekend.
A spokesman for Severn Trent said: “While we absolutely want everyone to enjoy themselves when visiting Foremark, it’s really important that everyone keeps safe, and shows care on their visit and respect the local area.
“There are still social distancing measures in place to keep people safe, which includes limiting the number of visitors and closing the car park when full. If the car park is full and closed, we’re asking people to turn back, and not park on the grass verges or neighbouring roads.
“We’re also continuing our work with the local police and council to prevent this dangerous and illegal parking on neighbouring roads to keep the wider community and local residents safe.
“As well as this, we’ve also seen lots of litter left across the site due to the increase of visitors we’ve had and we want to encourage everyone visiting to please use the bins provided, or preferably just take their rubbish with them.
“We want to remind people that BBQS are also not allowed anywhere on site, and there’s no swimming or paddling in the water at any time.
“That said, we are really thankful to those who do visit Foremark and who tidy up after themselves and respect the local community by following the measures in place.
“We know some customers often help our teams by picking up rubbish, and for that we’re really thankful, and we’re also thankful to the local residents for their understanding as we work with police on the parking issues.
“It’s really important for anyone who visits Foremark to show care, so that everyone can have a safe and an enjoyable experience.”
It was a much quieter scene at Foremark on Tuesday, with plenty of car parking spaces available as visitors enjoyed the continued warm weather.
Among them were friends Marilyn Clarke and Judy Houghton, both 69, who said they tend to avoid visiting the beauty spot at weekends over the summer months in favour of going on weekdays when it is quieter.
Judy, who lives in Castle Donington, said: “We’ve just come out for a dog walk and picnic as a treat as it was my birthday recently, but I certainly wouldn’t have come over here at the weekend.
“I’ve been at the weekend in the winter because it is a little bit different, but I wouldn’t come here at the weekend in the summer because I know the car park doesn’t take too many cars.”
Marilyn, who lives in Breedon on the Hill, said she’d seen the news about what happened on Sunday, and described the behaviour of those who were caught by police as “selfish” and “ridiculous”.
She added: “Why do they think it is acceptable behaviour? I don’t understand it and never will – it is a real, real shame because it is a beautiful spot.
“It is ridiculous what they’ve been doing – they’ve got no common sense and it is selfish.”