168 tonnes of rubbish collected in Cleethorpes after bank holidays

TWO bumper bank holidays in May saw 168 tonnes – that's eight tonnes more than the weight of a blue whale – of rubbish collected from Cleethorpes streets.

Thousands of visitors flocked to the seaside over each public holiday, making them the resort's busiest weekends so far this year.

Over the first weekend (May 3 to May 6), North East Lincolnshire Council street cleaners picked up 85 tonnes of rubbish and over the second (May 24 to 27), they collected 83 tonnes – the equivalent in weight of seven fire engines.

It is just less than double the amount of rubbish collected over an average weekend, which normally equates to 43 tonnes.

Portfolio holder for Environment and Housing, Councillor Ray Oxby, praised the mammoth effort of clean-up teams, who ensured the streets were spick and span by day break.

He said: "We saw many more people than usual descend on the resort, which is great, but obviously has a knock-on effect on the amount of litter produced.

"Thanks to our teams and the increasingly responsible attitude of our visitors, we were able to keep the resort looking as attractive as possible."

The first bank holiday weekend saw traffic backed up the A180 as far as Immingham as day trippers flocked to the seaside for a day of sunshine.

Some were forced to park up their cars in Grimsby and walk the two miles into the resort.

Bins overflowed with litter, but were quickly emptied and the contents added to the growing mound of waste.

Of that, more than three tonnes – weighing the same as five Mini Coopers – was collected from the beach and Boating Lake alone.

Chairman of Cleethorpes In Bloom, Bob Callison, believes a clean resort is key to attracting visitors.

He said: "I think they are doing an excellent job. Despite that amount of rubbish being generated, by 8am it has all gone and the streets are clean again for people to enjoy.

"The amount of rubbish at 3am is unbelievable as people leave takeaways, and restaurants clean up after a busy night, yet residents and visitors do not see it the next day. They do a terrific job."

But some residents would like to see the same attention paid to the residential streets as the promenade.

Beryl Rees-Smith, member of the Cleethorpes South Forward neighbourhood group, said: "The council do a tremendous job encouraging people to come to Cleethorpes and although they are doing an admiral job cleaning the Prom, the rest of the streets are dirty.

"Bins are overflowing, there is mess down St Peter's Avenue. The place looks scruffy."