'Take it home' plea as 34 bags of rubbish are removed from Ingoldmells beach

Local community programme, BeachCare, had joined up with the Lincolnshire Coastal BID to organise a beach clean to help alleviate the continuing problem of rubbish being left behind on the promenade of a privately owned beach at Ingoldmells Point.

Due to Covid-related circumstances which were out of Keep Britain Tidy’s control, the event on Friday was cancelled.

However, members of the Lincolnshire Coastal BID team still turned up in case news of the cancellation did not reach everyone and while they were there they got busy helping to clear up.

The event was due to start from Bibby's Beach Bar & Grill, which owns that stretch of promenade and beach and has in the past been awarded Blue Flag status.

One of the owners, Bradley Bibby, told the Standard the business spent £25,000 a year employing two full-time members of staff to keep the promenade and beach litter free and to pay Sid Dennis & Sons Ltd to remove te rubbish collected.

However, with the increased volume of visitors due to the pandemic and people taking staycations, they have been working on average from 8am to 8pm every day - and the litter has still been building up.

"It's disheartening when we work so hard to keep the beach and promenade litter free when we still get criticism for the rubbish left behind by visitors," said Mr Bibby. "We have been forced to remove the bins we had out there because they kept overflowing and have only left wheelie bins outside our food outlets, which are regularly emptied during the day.

"The idea was to encourage people to take their rubbish home as the rubbish they leave is not collected by East Lindsey District Council because it is a private beach. However, you wouldn't believe what we find in the wheelie bins - even armchairs and pushchairs."

Each year, the Skegness Standard receives numerous complaints about rubbish left behind on Ingoldmells' privately owned beaches, including those owned by Simon Adderley.

One resident, Fred Lucas, told us he was worried there would soon be a vermin problem. He said: "My partner's son and family are visiting this week and sorry to say they were appalled at the mess, only using the beach once which resulted in their nine- month old beagle puppy cutting his paw on broken glass. The council are yet again saying its not their problem,"

Another visitor told us he was so appalled he wouldn't be going back to Ingoldmells.

The Standard spoke to Lincolnshire Coastal Destination BID Manager, Nicola McGarry, after the beach clean and she told us she was unable to comment about the rubbish problem as negotiations on how to move forward were currently taking place between the private beach owners and East Lindsey District Council, who only collect rubbish from their beaches.

However, she did appeal to visitors to help the coast and the environment by taking their rubbish home in the meantime.

She said: "With the focus being predominately on climate change, I believe the important and key message we should be collectively sharing is for people to take their litter home and to care for the environment, wherever you are."

Nicola Harvey from Anglian Water said: “The Anglian Water region has the longest stretch of coastline than any other water company, and we know how important it is for the economy and local communities.

"This is why we run schemes like BeachCare – our volunteering programme to keep beaches clear of litter - and why we’re proud that almost 90% of our bathing waters have been classified as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’."

For more information email [email protected] or follow them on Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/RiverCare/