Bournemouth residents call for beach litter fines
Residents in Bournemouth are calling on the council to bring in on-the-spot fines for beach litter.
Currently, people only face a fine if they fail to pick up litter in the town centre.
According to residents, rubbish is regularly being left strewn along the shoreline.
Bournemouth Borough Council said fixed penalty fines were not cost effective and the beach was cleaned daily throughout the summer.
In a statement, the authority said: "In order to issue a fixed penalty notice, litter must be witnessed being dropped, and this is obviously difficult to monitor with both the volume of visitors and the length of time people tend to stay on the beach.
"We are very confident that, every day, the beach and seafront are a clean and pleasant environment for people to visit and enjoy."
More than 1,500 people have signed a petition calling for the on the spot fines to be introduced.
Peter Ryan, of volunteer litter clearing group, Dorset Devils, said: "We do need to take further steps to look after our beautiful beach - it shouldn't be trashed, there's nappies, glass, barbeques and items are also being buried in the sand.
"The council do a fantastic job - but there should be a presence on the beach to discourage people from dropping litter.
"When you're on the beach the only thing you should leave behind is your footprints."