Tynemouth beach litter prompts alcohol ban call

The bins are overflowing and people leave litter and broken glass on the beach

Large amounts of litter have been left behind by visitors at a north-east of England beach.

North Tyneside councillor Lewis Bartoli said overflowing bins and broken glass were common at Longsands and other Tynemouth beaches on sunny days.

He is now calling for a ban on alcohol.

"It's like going to bed at night and coming downstairs to find out there has been a huge party in the house with thousands of bottles and cans left in your lounge," he said.

"This is what we're facing in the summer months - it's horrific."

The situation had got worse, with "hundreds" of young people from outside the area gathering on King Edwards Bay, Mr Bartoli said.

Residents were having to pick up litter and broken glass and were looking forward to cloudy days when "the place isn't going to get trashed", he said.

Residents "look forward to cloudy days"

Residents Joan Hewitt and Mark Husmann carry out daily beach cleans and said they had filled six bin bags in one hour on Wednesday evening with rubbish just from the beach itself.

'Vicious sandcastles'

Bins on the approach road were overflowing.

They also stumbled across two "vicious sandcastles", decorated with shards of broken glass.

Ms Hewitt said she had "every sympathy for the council" but asked "why of all days yesterday was there no collection?"

North Tyneside Council has previously said it was working with the police and had deployed extra staff to tackle problems in the area, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Staff who normally work in the authority's leisure centres are being redeployed as beach wardens over the summer period.