LITTER-PICKERS are working from the early hours of the morning to clear rubbish-strewn beaches and beauty spots of junk.

And despite the round-the-clock effort, street cleaners are struggling to keep up with demand.

Councils across the area are once again urging people to take home their litter to prevent problems with overflowing bins and litter on the beach worsening.

Litter-pickers in Bournemouth are working from as early as 2am, Bournemouth Council said, to rid the beaches of the rubbish.

And in Poole, the cleansing team is working seven days a week until 10pm.

Andrew Brown, operations manager, said: “We have messages along the seafront advising the public to dispose of their rubbish responsibly, ideally taking their litter and recycling home with them.

“During peak season, we also have litter-pickers on the beach who start work at 2am in the morning making sure our beautiful beaches are clean for the enjoyment of everyone.”

Kate Langdown, street scene services manager at Borough of Poole said: “At the moment our street cleansing team is working seven days a week, until 10pm most evenings, but there will be occasions when we are unable to keep up with the demand.

“With the long evenings and summer sunshine, many people are also taking the opportunity to visit the beach for an evening barbeque with friends.

“We’d ask beach visitors to make sure that their barbeque is fully out before putting it into a plastic bin to avoid the risk of setting fire to the bin.”

Matt Reeks, community and open spaces manager at Christchurch council, said: “The council is not responsible for creating the litter, and clearing up other people’s rubbish merely means there is less resource for further positive developments of the facilities.

“If people can transport full bottles and bags of food to the beach, why is it so difficult to carry empty ones away?

“We do our best to empty waste bins as often as we can, but on busy weekends it can be difficult to keep up with the amount of litter that’s left.”