Two North Down beaches were left like ‘tips’ on Monday night after hundreds of sun-seekers left their rubbish lying on the sand.
A Belfast woman who regularly swims in the sea said she had never seen anything like it when she arrived at Helen's Bay at around 9pm on Monday for a dip.
Claire Brown was also lucky to escape injury when she stepped on a glass bottle that found its way into the sea.
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She told Belfast Live: “The mess was awful, I’ve never seen anything like it.
“Bins at Helen’s Bay were overflowing so at least people were trying but Crawfordsburn was really bad, it had just been left where everyone was sitting and no effort to even bring it to set beside the bins.
“Lots of rubbish had already been caught in the sea - I stepped on a beer bottle during my swim which luckily wasn’t broken.”
Glass bottles, plastic bags, empty drinks containers and more littered the grass at Crawfordsburn Country Park and on the beaches.
It’s understood litter pickers who were trying to keep on top of the littering had run out of collection bags by 7pm in the evening.
Now Claire is calling on people to “take their rubbish” home instead of leaving a mess for others to clean up after them.
She added: “Enjoy the beach that is for everyone then take rubbish home with them or at the very least set it beside the bins.”
Castlereagh South Green Party NI councillor Simon Lee was at the beach with his young son, who started cleaning up he was so annoyed.
He said: “It’s really disappointing that so many visitors to the beach make no effort to either use the bins provided, or take their rubbish home with them.
“My son was so annoyed he started to go around picking up litter himself.
“There seems to be a mindset that it’s perfectly fine just to drop tins and packaging on the ground because someone else will clean it up.
“It’s disturbing, because it makes you wonder about broader attitudes when it comes to our environment and biodiversity. We all need to work together to preserve and restore nature from the impact we are having on it and when people can’t be bothered to dispose of their waste responsibly it doesn’t augur well.
“Bin provision could be better, particularly to segregate recyclables. But this doesn’t take away from personal responsibility.”
North Down Alliance MLA Connie Egan said the scenes were “deeply disappointing”.
“Anyone visiting any of our beaches or public spaces should do so responsibly, disposing of their rubbish or taking it home with them,” she added.
“While it is encouraging to see people enjoying our outdoor public spaces, we are once again seeing the consequences of the influx of people to Helen’s Bay and Crawfordsburn during the summer, and the clear inability of the infrastructure of the area to deal with it.
“It is therefore deeply disappointing to see the amount of litter left behind on these beaches.
“The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, which has responsibility for the beach and country park, needs to get a handle on the huge influx of visitors and the impact they have on local residents and the environment.”
A police officer was also injured in the area on Monday when bottles were thrown at officers.
Police in Ards and North Down have since urged visitors “to respect the local area and take personal responsibility for their behaviour following a busy couple of days”.
Neighbourhood Inspector David McClements said: “Officers were in attendance at Crawfordsburn beach following a number of reports of anti-social behaviour, criminal damage and a large altercation.
“We had to seize a quantity of drugs and a large amount of alcohol on Monday.
“Unfortunately, when officers were carrying out their duties, a number of bottles were thrown at police. One officer was injured assisting with the crowds getting back on the train.
“I am urging parents or guardians to know what their children are doing outside of the home and to make it clear that underage drinking and any behaviour that impacts negatively will not be tolerated.”
Alliance MLA Andrew Muir said: “I would like to thank the Police, Translink and Country Park staff for their valiant efforts in high temperatures alongside local residents who have helped lift the mountains of litter left behind.
“We cannot continue to have a repeat of these difficult scenes every year when the sun comes up and real safety concerns arise alongside traffic gridlock leaving local residents waiting an hour to get home and driveways often blocked.
“With numerous fights reported, both the Department of Environment and the Council must finally take actions to update by-laws to end high volumes of alcohol being brought and consumed on site.”
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