by Alan Watkins

As Britain’s newest sandy beach, it was billed as a great place for families to enjoy the spring sunshine.

But just days after an expensive clean-up at Allhallows beach, glass, sharp tins and rubbish have accumulated on the holiday waterfront.

Allhallows Leisure Park restored the beach after spending £4,000 to remove 60 tons of rubbish, weeds and rubble on the Thames foreshore.

Parish councillor Peter Apostel said: “There is no way anyone could describe this as a sandy beach a quarter of a mile long.

“What concerns me is that even though rubbish has been cleared from a section of beach, anyone coming to Allhallows to enjoy this wonderful stretch of sandy beach is going to be in for something of a shock.”

Local resident, Noleen Skudder, said the banks of pebbles, seaweed and rubbish came as a disappointment.

She said: “A friend who came with me said she was expecting something better.”

One elderly man walking his dog along the beach said: “It’s a real pity: it already looks a mess.”

The beach was unveiled last Wednesday. But this week the Medway Messenger found sanitary waste, sharp wire partly buried in the pebbles, children’s balloons and pieces of metal sticking out of the shore.

A spokesman for the park owners, Bourne Leisure, said: “At the weekend, the weather was beautiful and the beach was very busy with people from the resort and villagers.

“Allhallows Leisure Park don’t put the tins and broken bottles there.
“People – as in many places – leave rubbish instead of using the receptacles.

“The company spends a considerable amount of money on a team who come down and tidy up the beach.

“That’s our commitment to keeping it neat and tidy.”

The beach used to be a popular attraction for locals and visitors alike more than two decades ago.

But it became overgrown with weeds and the tide covered much of the sand with shingle and rocks.

The mammoth clean-up operation, led by the park and parish council, saw diggers drafted in to clear rubble and debris.