Residents 'devastated' by rubbish dumped at NI beauty spots

A National Trust ranger collected bags of rubbish from Murlough beach

Rubbish left by visitors at beauty spots over the bank holiday weekend has "devastated" residents.

Litter, including glass and barbecues, was discarded on beaches and had to be removed by locals and council staff.

One man who cleaned up Murlough beach counted "350 bottles of alcohol, 20 towels, barbecues, buckets and spades, sandals and swimming goggles".

A spokesperson for the National Trust urged "everyone who visits their sites to take their litter home with them".

The conservation charity said littering put extra pressure on staff at a time when resources were stretched.

It added that it was working closely with the police and fire service, politicians and resident associations "to try and resolve matters of anti-social behaviour and also to improve environmental protections and traffic management".

Paul Osborne, who was staying in Newcastle at the weekend, said he was "hit by a scene of devastation" on Murlough beach.

After voluntarily picking up rubbish on Monday morning, he said he was "almost in tears after seeing an area of outstanding natural beauty be destroyed like that".

"They love this place, that's why they come to it but they leave it in a scene and destroy it," he told BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show.

"It's sad to see your own country getting treated like this, this country doesn't deserve good weather when you see that."

'Glass embedded in the sand'

Sheila Jackson, from Portstewart, said scenes at the weekend were just a "nightmare" with overflowing bins and traffic mayhem.

She said queues of cars arrived at the beach at 08:30 BST "despite the council not opening the beach until 10am".

"I can't blame people enjoying the weather and we've just come out of lockdown but I do blame them if they do not want to share the beautiful scenery," she said.

• A sunny bank holiday weekend in Northern Ireland

• Visitors join north coast beaches clean-up

She said she picked up "glass embedded in the sand" along with plastic beer cups, dirty nappies and face masks.

She said the council worked "exceptionally hard" to remove rubbish and along with a group, she often lifts 30 bags of litter at the weekends.

Alliance councillor Karen Douglas picked up broken glass from Ballyholme beach in Bangor

Ms Jackson said the rise of staycations meant people who could not get away to their usual holiday destinations came to the north coast.

"We do need to have a little bit of consultation with the council, the National Trust and the police, who perhaps need to be a bit more proactive as opposed to being reactive," she said.

"If you live in a beautiful place, look after it."

Health hazard

Alliance councillor Karen Douglas said she had picked up "bags and bags of rubbish" at Ballyholme beach in County Down at the weekend.

While she said it was good to see people enjoying themselves, she said there was a noticeable increase in litter left behind including fast food containers, bottles, cans, cigarette butts and dog poo bags.

Ms Douglas is part of a weekly beach clean-up where she picks up a lot of broken glass, which is a "real health hazard for children and animals".

"I found the likes of disposable barbecues and the metal brittle on the top is fairly sharp if you stood on that," she said.

She said Ards and North Borough Down Council had written to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) to request "a regional litter strategy to drive home the message that your waste is your responsibility".

"We're not getting the message out loud enough," she said.

"If you carry cans and pizza boxes then please take it home with you. If you carried it there, there's no hardship in taking it home.

"If we want people to come out and enjoy lovely shared spaces and encourage tourism, it's a bit of a blight.

"We want people to spend money in local towns but what does that say when there's a lot of litter lying about, it gives a bad impression."

A National Trust spokesperson said the number of visitors over the bank holiday weekend to their sites "was exceptional, fuelled no doubt by the glorious weather".

They said while their outdoor teams were working "incredibly hard" to keep outdoor spaces open, safe and clean, the public need to keep them that way.

"We are emptying bins as often as we can but are currently operating with fewer staff than normal," they said.

Daera has been contacted for a comment.