Locals have slammed "disgusting" scenes on Burrow Beach this morning after a major amount of litter was left behind by beachgoers yesterday.
Glass bottles, plastic, soiled nappies, food and barbeques were among the items left discarded in the sand. Plastic was also seen floating in the sea this morning after the tide swept some of the litter out.
Members of Fingal County Council were out cleaning the beach at 5:30am this morning and took over six hours to clean with the help of locals. One local, Derek Keatley told Dublin Live that he has contacted local Councillors about the issue.
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He said: "Such scenes have been happening so frequently that I’ve reached breaking point and I'm demanding immediate action. I alone picked two hand full of broken glass this morning out of fear someone or some kid would cut themselves."
Derek said there should be "beach rangers" on patrol during the summer months to manage the "waste generators" on the beach.
"There are numerous people still using the sand dunes as a bathroom option. We could easily get a portable facility to be on site during the summer months. The smell is quite apparent during the day," Derek said.
"I commend the efforts of all the beach clean-up team that are on hand to ensure the beach is clean before the next day users – we must impose more preventative measures in place to ensure such scene like will not continue."
A Fingal County Council spokeswoman told Dublin Live that "additional staff resources have been deployed at all beaches" to tackle the litter problem over the past few days.
She said: "This is alongside the deployment of additional large bins for the public to use for their litter and additional toilets have also been provided at beaches. It is important to remind all beach users to play their part by bringing their rubbish home or using the bins provided.
"Our crews have been working since 5.30 am this morning at all beaches and by way of example, it has taken over 6 hours to clean Burrow Beach again today with additional staff and equipment. Vans and tractors and trailers have been hauling the bags away once filled by the staff. In excess of 10 tonnes of litter was removed from Burrow Beach alone.
"Similar resources and vehicles have also been deployed at the other beaches. Our staff have also reported that burnt out bins have occurred due to hot BBQs being placed in bins, despite the warning signs we have in place not to do this. We would remind the public not to dispose of hot BBQs into the bins.
"As well as being unsightly and impacting other beach users litter left on beaches poses a risk to the environment and wildlife and can have a negative impact on water quality. In order to avoid litter entering the sea, the planned cleaning operation targets the area of the beaches where the tide will impact first."
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