‘Idiot’ municipal administrators have been chastised for shutting down a popular Dorset beach in the midst of a heatwave.
Traders in Lyme Regis are enraged that dredging work is being carried out when the UK is baking in 30°C heat.
The sandy beach would normally be packed with visitors and families enjoying a day at the beach in June.
Instead, there are no sunbathers on the beach, and dredging diggers have dug up a ‘black gunge.’
Local business owners who have been affected by Covid lockdowns for the past two years have compared the shutdown to “closing a florist on Valentine’s Day.”
‘We believe it’s really ill timed, and it’s harming every company along the sea front,’ Audrey Bellacott, of The Beach House Cafe, said.
‘The gunge they’re hauling out of the harbour is dark and disgusting,’ says one witness.
I’m not sure why they selected the middle of June to do it. Parents are not bringing their children since there is no place for them to play.
‘It’s really ludicrous; who knows what the council was thinking about.’ We’ve been here since 1998, and that’s the first time I’ve ever seen them do it in June.’
‘The timing is bad – it is the warmest week of the year and we can’t even get on our beach,’ said Caz Retter, 39, a manager at the Cobb Arms.
We were not even aware of it before the work started – if they’d have communicated with local businesses it would have been better.
‘People should have been given a chance to prepare.
‘If we’d have been given notice we would have reduced our business hours and our produce for the week.’
One tourist said: ‘Closing your beach in the middle of a heatwave is like a florist closing their shop on Valentine’s Day.’
Every year, dredging work is carried out at Lyme Regis to remove surplus silt and preserve passable channels in the port.
Normally, the work is completed in the spring, but it has been postponed multiple times this year.
Dorset Council spokeswoman stated there were issues acquiring licenses for the work from the maritime agency, therefore the dredging was postponed to prevent disrupting the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee festivities.
‘Dorset Council is performing yearly dredging works in the harbour, and we hope to reopen the majority of the sand beach on Friday ahead of the weekend,’ they stated.
‘All other beaches in Lyme Regis, including the pebble area of Front Beach, Monmouth Beach, Church Cliff Beach, and East Beach, will remain open during the works.’
‘We can’t anticipate when a heatwave would strike, but we had previously rescheduled our work in Lyme Regis to avoid disrupting the local Queen’s Jubilee celebrations over half term.’
‘The timing of the harbour dredging is determined by the contractor’s availability, although we attempt to complete the job as late as possible to offer us a better weather window.’
‘This reduces the likelihood of delays, which can cause individuals to be inconvenienced for longer and the Council to incur time-related expenses.’
The council has been asked for additional information by MailOnline.