Rotting seaweed will be left on Weymouth Beach, council says

Some visitors to Weymouth have complained that seaweed strewn on the beach has become "very smelly"

Piles of rotting seaweed strewn across part of a seaside resort's beach will not be cleared, a council has said.

The seaweed has been washed up by winds on the southern section of Weymouth Beach in Dorset.

Beachgoers have been complaining about having to wade through a carpet of smelly kelp to get to the water.

Weymouth Town Council said while it "might be unsightly", leaving it avoids "any potential harm that may arise from interfering with its natural course".

Winds have washed up a slick of seaweed on the southern section of Weymouth Beach

In a statement, the authority added: "While we understand that our approach may not align with some personal preferences, it is important to note that we are not striving to provide a synthetic, controlled swimming pool experience.

"Instead, we invite visitors to embrace the raw beauty of nature in its unaltered form, which includes the presence of seaweed."

Julie Brindle, a recent visitor to the beach, decided against visiting again on Thursday because of the seaweed.

She said: "It's very smelly - you have to walk through it in order to bathe. It's layer upon layer.

"I'm a regular visitor to Weymouth and I've never known it to be like that before.

"I recognise that it has its value with marine life but not clearing the seaweed doesn't make sense to me on that part of the beach."

The council said it appreciated the "seaweed might be unsightly until it is washed back out into the bay"

Chris Packham, broadcaster and naturalist, said: "Marine algae is incredibly important - it traps more carbon than every rainforest we've got on the planet.

"Locally in this area it's an important fish breeding ground.

"Marine algae is marine plants - you could consider it as the grass and the herbs of the seafloor."

Springwatch presenter Chris Packham has backed the council's position on the seaweed

Describing the issue on the beach as "a temporary blip", he added: "Frankly, when you think of the crisis that we are in, in terms of the environment and biodiversity, we ought to be focusing on bigger issues.

"Let's get a grip and tolerate nature."

Councillor David Harris added: "It's important that it returns to the bottom of the seabed from where it came and it will do this as soon as the wind changes and take the seaweed back out to sea.

"We must remember that the beach is a two-mile stretch and this is only a small part."

The beach currently holds both the Seaside Award and the Blue Flag Award in recognition of its cleanliness and water quality.