Weston-super-Mare beach was left littered with discarded face masks and used nappies after being swamped by visitors on the hottest weekend of the year so far.
Crowds flocked to the seaside resort to soak up the sun on Saturday and Sunday as temperatures hit the mid-teens and restrictions lifted.
But volunteers cleaning the beach on Saturday and Sunday said they were horrified to see the amount of litter left on the sands by visitors.
A team from Weston Grand Pier, helped by volunteers, carry out litter picks on the area of beach between the pier and former seaquarium and up to Knightstone Island each Saturday and Sunday.
This weekend they filled 35 large bin liners of rubbish.
The shoreline was also full of discarded face masks while volunteers also found dumped nappies - some of which had been buried in the sand.
Other items, such as food wrappers and drink bottles and cans, were also found littering the beach.
Grand Pier head of operations Remy Haudecoeur said: “It was glorious weather at the weekend but the beach was left very dirty.
“The team collected between 60 and 80 discarded face masks off the beach.
“I myself picked up a dozen in the water on the shoreline.
“The sands were full of other rubbish including nappies, baby wipes and bottles and cans and other rubbish.”
Remy said although the council did provide bins along the seafront, more needed to be installed.
“At the moment only outdoor hospitality is open which means everything is on a takeaway basis,” he said.
“The council, on this basis, should provide additional bins.
“People also need to put their rubbish in the bins or take it home with them rather than expecting others to clean it up.”
Beach clean volunteer Malaika Cattlin said: “I walk along the beach and watch the sunset as often as I can.
“It was great to take part in the beach clean.
“It is so sad to pick up filthy nappies and drink bottles and I lost count of the dirty wet wipes there were.
“I support the Cleaner Coastlines group and they're working with local vendors to remove tags and nets from toys before they reach the beach.
"I picked up at least 20 tags and nets which animals could get trapped in.
“We are so lucky to have a beautiful beach on our doorstep and we all have a part to play to keep it clean and protect it.”
The beach is cleaned each day, apart from Christmas Day, by contractors for North Somerset Council.
Wardens also patrol Weston beach from April to September from 10am-6pm and regularly check the beach throughout the day during winter.
Weston beach, Sand Bay and Clevedon beach are European bathing waters and are monitored by the Environment Agency from May to September.
The Grand Pier has also set up a recycling point for unwanted beach toys and has also taken the step of removing all packaging from toys bought on the pier before they can be taken away to ensure the plastic is properly disposed of.
