THERE are calls for urgent action to be taken on Falmouth beaches after early morning swimmers were once again confronted by smouldering embers from fires, broken glass and litter.
Things have come to head this Bank Holiday weekend with revellers gathering on Gyllyngvase Beach each night drinking and lighting fires and leaving large amounts of litter behind.
A fire was also lit right next door to the wooden shelter for the Castle Beach Cafe creating a fire risk while Gylly Adventures had the support for board for their sign destroyed to use as firewood.
Broken glass left on the beach
There are also reports of people pulling up plants and trees to use as firewood.
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Gemma Lawley who runs the She Swims Falmouth group with over 1,500 members says having to clear rubbish away every morning is getting everybody down.
Biffa worker Dean Rand had been collecting rubbish from beaches since 7am this morning
"Obviously we are swimming down there every day and we get down early and we are being met with the same scenes every single morning," she said. "It's not about employing more litter pickers or people going down in the morning to clear it up and make it all look all nice only for it to happen again.
Nails left on the beach in fires
"Plastic Free Falmouth do what they can but they are volunteers. Obviously the council are trying to educate people, but what's actually happening is that there is nobody there when the fires are happening. Bonfires are not actually allowed at all but every evening there are fires. So there is a bigger problem if this is happening everyday.
"Somebody's going to get hurt. There is broken glass, there are shards of glass. I believe a little girl burnt her foot on a buried barbecue last year. It's a huge problem it's not just beaches it's open spaces as well. We can't just sit back and let it happen."
Falmouth mayor Steve Eva inspects one of the bonfires
Posting on Facebook Gylly Adventures said that they were really disappointed when arriving early at the beach this morning they'd found the smouldering remains of their wooden A frame sign.
Although they said the perpetrators were considerate enough to remove the slot in boards, before burning it. They said they had also discovered a human waste where they store the overflow kit was kept.
Open fires on Gylly Beach last night
They said open fires at any time are not acceptable, there are now loads of nails hidden in the sand ready for people’s bare feet.
They also threatend to pour water on any open fire they saw on the beach.
Vicky Eva, the wife of Falmouth mayor Steve Eva said: "Early morning swimmers arriving at Gyllyngvase Beach were confronted with rubbish which had to be cleared away There was broken glass amongst this but it was still too hot to do anything with. A lady sitting close by, said her friend had already removed glass and plastic bottles from the area by the wall behind it.
"Disgraceful behaviour. Cornwall Council marshalls need to be around in the evenings more so than the day when fires are more likely to be. Not only was Wesup sign burnt but branches from trees in the gardens. Instant fines are going to be the only deterrent. People when alcohol fuelled do not care how they leave the beach. Too much property is being damaged to fuel the fires. This is not responsible behaviour"
Clearing up broken bottles
Fiona Crump from Castle Beach Cafe said somebody had a bonfire down between the really small space by the shelter.
"It didn't cause any damage but I had to clear it all up this morning," she said. "We had a few people doing it during the first lockdown but this is the first time this year.
Just some of the rubbish collected from the beach this morning
"They'd got right next to the wooden shelter. I had to clear it up. It's not hard to put a fire out when you are right next to the sea. It was just a pile of charred logs but there is a big potential for damage just inches away from our our plastic covered awnings and our wooden shelter. Just had new shelters fitted the day before and the fire was right next door."
Branches were ripped out of the hedges
Falmouth mayor Steve Eva said the town council would be meeting on Tuesday to discuss the escalating situation.
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