ROUGH sleepers have been leaving rubbish and human excrement at a clifftop beauty spot where families spend their days, a residents’ spokesman says.

The Rev Chris Colledge, chairman of West Cliff Green Residents Association, says locals cleaned up the green themselves after days of pleading with the council to deal with the problem.

Mr Colledge said the area had been strewn with rubbish, used toilet paper, discarded barbecues, and drug paraphernalia. The Echo reported recently that a dog nearly died after eating cannabis left there.

Mr Colledge said: “I was saying time and time again that this is a health issue and I was also saying that people gravitate towards the sea because we’re a coastal location.

“The response was that we’re one among many of the parks which need attention.”

Mr Colledge, whose association regularly organises litter picks on the site, eventually arranged for residents to take away the rubbish themselves.

Council leader Cllr John Beesley, who represents Westbourne and West Cliff, insisted the area was a priority. In an email to Mr Colledge, he said the council’s parks team and homelessness officers were dealing with the problems.

“Together we can make sure that the West Cliff Green is a community asset to be extremely proud of and the envy of the rest of the town,” he added.

Fellow ward councillor Barry Goldbart said there should be night patrols by police with dogs to deal with the problems.

“The West Cliff is a beautiful part of our town and it acts as a magnet for visitors during the day and for less savoury types at night. This situation must be brought to a satisfactory conclusion as a matter of priority if we are not to see a child seriously hurt by the discarded needles of thoughtless drug users,” he said.

Police Sgt Dave Moore emailed Mr Colledge to say the green “has not been forgotten by my team”.

But he said homelessness, drug use and litter were seen across the town. “That coupled with the issues that you have seen first hand of the workload that the police have equates, I’m afraid, to areas such as the West Cliff green not receiving the attention it perhaps deserves,” he said.

He had approached other could not promise much more policing but the force would seek to address the problems.