Cornish locals have slammed the behaviour of ‘anti-social’ public school children and for disrupting the peace of their little seaside village.
Residents and visitors of Polzeath are implementing measures to help deter wild beach party-goers who dump broken bottles of alcohol all over the idyllic beach.
The moves come off the back of a two-day 10pm curfew imposed by police this time last year after groups of hundreds of drunken youths descended on the beach and caused chaos.
The surrounding benches, fences and stolen shed doors became fuel for beach bonfires, while emergency life-saving equipment was vandalised.
In a bid to prevent the same happening again this year, a towering CCTV camera has been installed to watch the beach, meanwhile rechargeable floodlights will also be deployed.
Residents and visitors of Polzeath (pictured) are implementing measures to help deter wild beach party-goers who dump broken bottles of alcohol all over the idyllic beach
Police have previously had to take action against the swathes of teenagers trashing the beach
A towering CCTV camera has been installed to watch the beach after the public school children failed to clear up last year
The heads of a number of prestigious schools in the area last winter received visits from Mr Stewart, an ex police officer, in order to speak to them about pupils who are known to be an issue
A former police office for 30 years who now combats anti-social behaviour in the area, Andy Stewart, pointed out that they didn’t necessarily want to discourage people enjoying themselves however.
‘We are saying, ‘Yes, come and party’, but at 1am the floodlights will be on the beach so they can see the mess,’ he told the Guardian.
‘We will give them bin bags to clear up and say, ‘It’s time for bed’.’
Mr Stewart, who operates in a community-funded beach ranger, says police will consider banning groups at night time if the youths don’t abide by the rules.
He did however express concern that this could cause the troublesome teenagers to move to other beaches to party, where there is less infrastructure than Polzeath.
Mr Stewart hit out at the parents of the children, many of whom own million-pound homes in the village of Rock nearby, saying they ‘haven’t got a clue’ what actually goes on.
‘They think they are sending their kids to this utopia, where they are sitting on the beach, playing guitar and swapping phone numbers,’ he says.
‘They don’t realise there is excessive drinking, cocaine, nitrous oxide, underage sex and big fires.’
Fire crews will be on hand in the evening to ensure the youths know how to safely enjoy themselves.
Mr Stewart pointed out that while teenagers often chuck sand over the fire when they finish partying, that practise ‘just insulates it so it will still be hot in the morning’.
He added that he’d even talked a TV celebrity out of allowing his teenagers to attend the beach parties late at night last summer, showing him images of ‘used’ condoms, knickers and sanitary towels.
The heads of a number of prestigious schools in the area last winter received visits from Mr Stewart in order to speak to them about pupils who are known to be an issue.
While many are concerned that the late night antics could earn Polzeath a reputation similar to that of Newquay, which it spent a decade trying to shake off, while Mr Stewart is more worried about the safety of the children attending.
‘They swim when they’re really drunk. And we’ve arrived in the morning to find people lying comatose on the beach from the night before. Not a great idea if the tide is coming in.’
Two members of the Polzeath Marine Conservation Group, Kathy Alford and Vickie Toland, who are often seen most weeks picking up rubbish from the beach are bracing themselves for the next two weeks as teenagers descend on the idyllic beach.
‘In the last few years, it’s been big bonfires and lots of bottles just chucked,’ Ms Toland says.
‘I couldn’t believe it when I first saw the bin man with a wheelbarrow and a dustpan and brush clearing up the road in the morning,’ she adds.
One troublesome teenager was ousted on the Polzeath community group chat last summer with Brook Hill, a surf teacher, saying that ‘if he wants a nice beer or a coffee anywhere, he’ll have trouble. Everyone just refused to serve him.’
Police were forced to take action last year after the parties became out of hand
The exclusive village of Rock (pictured) near Polzeath in Cornwall, UK, where many parents of the public school children own million-pound properties
Sheila Hicks, who cleans Polzeath’s community public toilets called on the youths to be behave sensibly.
‘You get bottles dropped in here,’ she says. ‘Come down here and enjoy it all, but leave it as you found it,’ she said.
A student who works at the Beach Box cafe when she’s back home for the holidays said that there wouldn’t be such a divide between the visitors and the locals ‘if they showed some respect.’
She said: ‘It’s a tiny group of people taking it too far and ruining it for everyone.’
Mr Stewart admitted there needed to be a degree of ‘tolerance’ towards the teenagers, who have just spent weeks sitting stressful exams.
However he said that the community has ‘braced’ itself. ‘This year, we are ready,’ he added.
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