Boozy beach picnic litter at Dunnet beach included ladies’ underwear, disposable BBQ, towels and empty wine bottle
Members of a Caithness environmental group, keeping our coastline free of rubbish, were shocked to find remnants of a boozy beach picnic on Dunnet beach.
Dorcas Sinclair, who started Caithness Beach Cleans (CBC) with her husband Allan a number of years ago, discovered the conglomeration of items on Monday afternoon (April 14).
“We were fairly sure that it was not recent, as sand had blown over some stuff and a lot of the litter had blown down the beach,” Dorcas recalled.
“Just in case, we left it and carried on litter picking up the beach with the intention of picking it up on the way back, and sure enough, it was just the same, and no one was about.
“When I removed the [disposable] BBQ, I ran my hand through the sand to make sure there was nothing else and the sand was cold, as was the BBQ. We also found wrappers from Tesco and Coop.”
Among other items recovered was an empty wine bottle, three towels, a wet T-shirt and a pair of ladies’ underwear.
“I'm all for having a picnic on the beach, even a BBQ, but when they have gone to the trouble of carrying it all there, they could have carried the remains back and put them in the bin – it was not far away from the picnic site.
“Leaving glass on the beach is a hazard in more ways than one. If it broke, then it was a cut hazard to anyone playing or sitting in the area, and if it had blown a wee bit, it could then also have been a fire hazard in the dune grass.
“Take your rubbish home or at least to the bins provided.”
Dorcas said that they also picked up a lot of agricultural bale wrap from the beach. The problem was highlighted in a recent article, with CBC removing large mounds of plastic bale wrap from around Dunnet beach.
“Apart from two lumps weighing about 10lb each, it was mostly smaller bits this time,” Dorcas added.