More than 80 tonnes of rubbish collected from beaches

More than 80 tonnes of rubbish left on beaches over the bank holiday weekend has been collected by refuse staff.

Thousands flocked to the coastline across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole as temperatures reached record breaking highs.

But more than 83 tonnes of waste - including tents, food packaging and empty cans and bottles - were left behind to be collected by BCP Council's environmental services teams.

Richard Herrett, cabinet member for leisure at the council, described the littering as "unacceptable" and said visitors who leave rubbish "are not welcome".

This amount of waste collected by the council was an increase of 260% on the previous weekend, when teams collected 23 tonnes of waste.

The council said it deploys teams in areas between Hamworthy, in Poole, and Highcliffe in the early hours.

They collect waste with tractors and surf rakes before the beaches become too busy.

Litter-pickers then take over until the beach is cleared.

Herrett said: "We're proud of our coastline but it's frustrating when some visitors treat it with complete disregard.

"Our residents care deeply about these spaces, and so do we, especially knowing the effort our teams put in every single day.

"We have been clear, everyone is welcome to enjoy our beautiful seafront. But if you leave your litter behind or fail to show basic respect, you are not welcome."

He said the council had 400 bins along the seafront with nearly half a million litres of capacity, meaning there was no excuse for those not discarding rubbish properly.

He added: "We are determined to keep our coastline one of the UK's best places to visit but that relies on everyone doing the right thing and taking responsibility for their litter."

The rubbish was not the only issue faced by residents during the hot spell, with disorder on the beaches and police and thousands of motorists getting fined for breaking parking regulations.