Council bosses have been forced to re-open seafront parking in Weston-super-Mare – after the resort was swamped by visitors on the hottest day of the year so far.
Car parks across the seaside resort quickly filled up today (Thursday, June 25) as temperatures soared into the mid-30s and people headed to the beach.
The influx of visitors led not only to car parks becoming full, but also people parking on residential streets near the seafront.
This, council bosses say, has led to some motorists being abusive to the authority’s parking enforcement officers.
Marine Parade has been closed during lockdown to provide more space for social distancing.
The closure resulted in scores of parking spaces for visitors also being sealed off.
North Somerset Council executive member for parking Councillor Mark Canniford said: “The fine weather we’re experiencing at the moment means many more people being out and about.
“This is resulting in an escalating parking and traffic situation in Weston, where many of the car parks are full.
“Some of our staff have been subjected to unacceptable behaviour from motorists and our priority is to protect the welfare of our own employees and seafront users.
“We have decided to re-open Marine Parade today to ease the parking situation and to encourage people to use the whole length of the beach and seafront.
“This should ease the concentration of people around the pier and allow people to social distance.
“We would reiterate that abuse of our staff is totally unacceptable.”
There have also been concerns about the amount of litter being left by visitors.
A major clean had to be carried out on Wednesday, June 24 after the seafront was left swamped in rubbish, with local residents and council contractors clearing up.
Mr Canniford added: “Another plea is for visitors to make sure they do not leave litter behind – use the bins and if they are full take your rubbish home.
He added: "Yesterday we were left with a huge amount of rubbish to clear up from the beach.
Thank you to those residents who turned out yesterday evening to clear up what they could. Your efforts are appreciated, but the fact that you had to is a sad indictment of other people’s behaviour.”
