100 tonnes of rubbish dumped on Brighton Beach
Residents and visitors flocking to Brighton's beaches have left 100 tonnes of rubbish on the seafront since the outbreak of the recent warm weather.
In just 17 days, the council's street cleansing staff have had to clear the weight in rubbish of 50 family sized cars from the seafront. That's the equivalent in weight of 100,000 1kg bags of sugar.
Despite repeated calls from the council for people to bin their rubbish responsibly or take it home, some residents and tourists are still leaving their litter on the beach or dumping it beside an already full bin.
Councillor leader Phélim Mac Cafferty said: "The amount of rubbish the council has collected over the last two and a half weeks is off the scale"
"Hard-working council teams say the amount of waste being collected on the busiest days on the seafront has almost doubled since before lockdown began".
Cllr Mac Cafferty said: "Our message is simple. If you really can't find a bin then take your rubbish home. Leaving rubbish on the beach or beside a bin is anti-social. Don't do it".
"Littering is an offence and if you litter you can expect a fine, which can be as expensive as £2,500."
On the 11 hottest days over the 17-day period, the figure for collected rubbish came to more than 77 tonnes, or the weight of 77,000 bags of sugar. The average over the whole period was almost six tonnes every day.