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Tourists spark fury with 'disgusting' beach act amid coronavirus crisis

People who ignored social distancing orders during UK’s heatwave have left piles of rubbish on a beach much to the disgust of residents.

The UK’s temperatures in the south have been above 30 degrees for a number of days now, prompting the Met Office to issue a level three heatwave action warning on Tuesday.

Beachgoers pack the beach in Brighton, on the south coast of England.
Beachgoers pack onto a beach in Brighton, England. Source: Getty Images

Brighton on the south coast of England reached 35 on Friday and 34 on Saturday, meaning the city’s beach had plenty of foot traffic.

Shocking images are now circulating online, showing tourists squashed together on Brighton’s beach despite the Brighton & Hove City Council warning people to find a place less busy if beaches were overly crowded.

On Twitter, one man asked whether people were still aware of the pandemic.

“Beaches are full, and no social distancing... idiots,” he tweeted.

Litter is seen on the beach as people enjoy the sunny weather, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brighton, Britain.
Rubbish left at Brighton on Saturday. Source: Reuters

Another called for the beaches to be closed.

Other images have also emerged of piles of rubbish left behind by beachgoers, with some residents questioning the environmental impact.

Brighton residents expressed their disgust over the littered beach, which one woman described as a “rubbish dump”.

“Brighton beach is disgusting,” another woman tweeted.

“I know some of this will be seagulls but a lot of it is clearly people who can't be bothered to carry their rubbish to the bin. So disrespectful.”

Another woman tweeted she woke up to go for a swim Saturday morning but didn’t want to get into the water.

It’s not known how much rubbish was left behind but some residents say the area is the busiest it’s been in months.

Jennifer Vidas, 19, who works at a fruit stand, told The Argus the past two days had been the busiest at the local markets since they reopened about two months ago.

“I think people are in a good mood with the weather being so hot,” she told The Argus.

“But I feel quite safe, though not many customers wear masks.”

On Friday, people also crowded Bournemouth beach – despite warnings from council to stay clear due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

It comes after photos of a packed out Bournemouth beach went viral in June.

Currently, there are more than 310,000 cases of COVID-19 in the UK and more than 46,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

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