Coastal communities in North Wales have been angered by the lack of respect of tourists littering beaches (Picture: Daily Post Wales)
Tourists in North Wales have been described as ‘dirty pigs’ for leaving a trail of human waste and litter behind them.
Used nappies, cartons and bottles were amongst the piles of trash abandoned at camp sites across the coast in recent day for residents to clear.
Volunteers confessed to being ‘fed up’ by her days of litter picking at the beach only to find it just as bad the next.
‘There was plastic all over the sand, including cartons, bottles and tonnes of soft plastic,’ one Dwygyfylchi resident said.
Residents have noticed a rise in littering (Picture: Daily Post Wales)
‘There were also three s**t-filled nappies. know they were s**t-filled because not only did they not bin them, they also did not close them up.
‘The new tables and benches were melted by a BBQ too. Use the beach, enjoy the beach, but have the decency to clean up after.’
Visiting families also left a woman ‘totally disgusted’ in the neighbouring town of Penmaenmawr.
As well as littering and graffiti, she complained of illicit and inconsiderate parking that blocked a slipway for sailing boats.
Piles of plastic can be spotted abandoned on the coast (Picture: Daily Post Wales)
‘I usually have a lot of tolerance,’ she wrote on social media. ‘But this is rude and disgraceful.’
Another said: ‘I apologise if you think me calling them “dirty pigs” is offensive, but that is what they are.
‘As are the people who empty their chemical toilets from vans on the seafront car park, leaving dirty loo roll draped in the shrubs and over the rocks.’
Tourist hotspots have long suffered from Britain’s disposable attitudes but there is some good news.
In the 2022 Great British Beach Clean, set up by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), the amount of litter on Welsh beaches fell 17% compared with 2021.
Yet beach litter volumes in the country remained almost as much as in the whole of England.
Faced with so much trash, even volunteers are giving up on keeping the beaches tidy.
One woman who has given up on the challenge said: ‘The town wants more sand on this beach but people cannot respect the small amount we actually have.
‘Unless the council gets in there and polices it or clean patrols it, the problem will simply magnify.
‘There are individuals like me who clear the rubbish and, yes, it is a good thing to do – but how is it changing people’s attitudes?
‘Maybe we need to leave the rubbish there so that people will learn to respect nature?’
Conwy Council said that, via on-site posters and its social media accounts, the local authority regularly reminds visitors – and residents – to be responsible with their litter.
A spokesperson said: ‘There’s no excuse for littering. Most people dispose of their litter responsibly, and it is disappointing that there’s a minority of people who do not.
‘Take all your rubbish home with you, or put it in a bin, and leave no trace of your visit.’
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‘I usually have a lot of tolerance, but this is rude and disgraceful.’