A COUNCILLOR has attacked revellers who left their litter strewn across Bournemouth beach over the bank holiday as “ignorant”.

Bournemouth council cabinet member for planning and environment, Cllr David Smith, said that the authority was sufficiently prepared to cope with the weekend’s influx of visitors.

An estimated 200,000 people – more than the population of Bournemouth – flocked to the town over the bank holiday weekend to make the most of the glorious weather.

However, concerns have been raised about the “filthy conditions” on the seafront and the amount of litter left on the beach.

Nancy Mayne, who owns a beach hut in Alum Chine, said she was “bitterly disappointed” in the quality of the council’s work.

“I am always very impressed at how well the beaches are maintained,” she said. “However, when arriving at Alum Chine beach at 10.15am on bank holiday Monday, I was appalled to see all the black rubbish bins, blue recycling bins and dog bins overflowing with rubbish spilling out onto the ground.”

She added: “I am bitterly disappointed in Bournemouth council and hope these filthy conditions are not due to cutbacks, we cannot carry on like this throughout the summer season.”

Cllr David Smith, cabinet member for planning and environment, said that they had sufficient plans in place to cope with the weekend’s influx of visitors.

“I think we were prepared enough to cope with the number of people who came down over the bank holiday weekend,” he said.

“There were lots of bins for people to put their rubbish in but unfortunately some people had no intention of using them.

“I’m very disappointed and sad that people can be so ignorant as to leave their rubbish laying around.

“Everybody knows that it is respectful to throw your litter away but unfortunately some people didn’t.”

Bournemouth council is in the process of ordering 200 new bins to replace the existing facilities and, over the winter, also installed several ‘super bins’ in Pier Approach which are built partly underground and hold three to four times as much litter as a regular bin.

Cllr Pat Oakley, cabinet member for tourism, leisure and the arts, praised the work of council staff over the weekend.

“It was a big challenge for our seafront team but overall they did a fantastic job.

“Everybody worked really hard with many going beyond the call of duty to ensure that the area was in immaculate condition first thing in the morning.”

A petition, set up by Bournemouth resident Jane Cooper calling on councils in the area to take further action to reduce the problem in the area had 2,000 signatures yesterday afternoon.