BEACHGOERS must be “responsible for their actions” following mass littering on Bournemouth beach on the hottest day of the year.

Bottles, plastic bags and rubbish were abandoned on the sands across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole at the end of last week.

According to BCP Council, approximately 25,000 to 35,000 people were at Bournemouth beach on Friday with thousands more filling Mudeford sandbank, Alum Chine and Southbourne beaches.

Beer bottles, shopping bags and cigarette butts were among items left by visitors in what has been described as “utter ruin”.

Cabinet member for tourism, Cllr Beverley Dunlop, believes the local authority is doing “the absolute maximum” to combat the issue.

She said: “It’s dreadful and unacceptable.

“People like to blame the tourists, but it’s not just them. I think it’s a general section of the population who just don’t seem to want to pick up their litter and take it home.

“We do our absolute best. From a tourism perspective, we’ve put extra money into keeping the seafront clean. We know this a priority and important to residents who want a clean and tidy place to live.

“We’ve got rubbish collections, increased bin collections and increased cleansing teams, but there’s an element of personal responsibility that we need to try and get across to people. I’m as dismayed as everyone else as I do feel we’re doing the absolute maximum we can.

“We are asking everybody who visits the seafront to take their litter home.”

Footage of the littered beach circulated on social media over the weekend, with one particularly shocking video captured by resident Amy McBrayne.

She said: “When we see litter like this it discourages you to enter the water on a sunny day as there’s a chance you’ll come across a floating dirty nappy or tread in broken glass in the sand.”

But it is not just the beach that was left in a poor state following Friday’s warm weather- residents have also reported an increase in litter on roads and walkways in the surrounding area.

Brian Sutcliffe, a member of volunteer litter picking group Dorset Devils, said: “The roads around the beach were filthy on Saturday morning.

“Instead of just following a schedule, the council need to adjust the street cleaning as per the weather conditions and the tourists. The streets are cleaned the same day every week through winter and summer regardless of the conditions.

“You should clean based on need, not on schedule.”