WHAT'S next? A swarm of locusts?
Wind travelling at 45mph has whipped tonnes of sand onto Cleethorpes Promenade for the fourth day in a row.
And clearing the 2ft deep mounds from the main prom – which has been closed between Willy's Pub And Brewery and the Pier on the instruction of police since Friday – is proving a "losing battle" for Balfour Beatty.
It comes just days before the Easter bank holiday, already cursed by the Stainforth landslide, which buried the main trainline into Cleethorpes, and last week's freak deep freeze.
Now, anxious traders have accused Balfour Beatty – who are partners with North East Lincolnshire Council – of "not acting quickly enough" to reduce the impact of the sandstorm, which hit on Friday afternoon.
Co-owner of Hawaiian Eye Café, Jane Wood, shut two hours early yesterday, and fears this could be the toughest start of the season yet.
She said: "It is a disaster. We've had a third of the number of customers we would normally have had.
"We feel abandoned by the council. It happened on Friday and, until today, no one has been to see us. They haven't done anything.
"We have a bank holiday coming up – this, with the landslide and cold weather, makes it a very worrying time and an upsetting start to the season."
At the beginning and end of winter, NELC takes away the sand that has built up against the sea wall to keep the beach at a safe level.
However, the Grimsby Telegraph understands a trader contacted the authority two weeks ago to ask why it appeared this hadn't happened this year. At the time of going to press, the situation had not been clarified by the council.
Owen Taylor, of arcade business Taylor Made Fun, estimates a 75 per cent loss on last year – which enjoyed temperatures in the 20s.
He said: "We appreciate this is an act of God, but at times it feels we have a reactive rather than a proactive council.
"We cannot control what has happened, but we must get back to normal as quickly as possible. This is largely out of our control and that's the worst thing about it."
Councillor Chris Shaw, leader of NELC, reassured businesses they were doing all they could to help the resort, including an extra ten buses between Doncaster and Cleethorpes and deploying four diggers to clear the promenade of sand.
He said: "If the wind drops before Easter it will be clear but, as leader of the council, the one thing I can't control is the weather. There is no point in officers carrying on clearing the promenade if the wind stays as strong. It is a waste of public money."
Portfolio holder for leisure and tourism, Councillor Mick Burnett, added: "We cannot change nature, but we will work with it and do the best we can to sort the problem."
An NELC spokesperson said they hoped the prom would be "drivable" by today. However, this does not mean it will be open.
