Owners of Dorset beauty spot urge government to teach ‘culturally diverse’ tourists how to behave by after huge crowds left trail of ‘mass littering, flycamping, graffiti, and fires’
- Durdle Door on Dorset’s Lulworth Estate saw huge spike in visitors last summer
- Site owners saw ‘environmental degradation never been experienced’ before
- Government being petitioned for a ‘countryside code’ ahead of lockdown easing
The owners of a renowned British beauty spot that was ravaged by litter and vandalism last summer have urged the government to educate ‘culturally diverse’ tourists how to behave in the countryside.
The Lulworth Estate, which owns Durdle Door in Dorset, has complained that huge crowds that headed for Britain’s coasts during the easing of the first lockdown left behind an unprecedented trail of destruction.
They claim the huge spike in day trippers seen at Durdle Door in May led to ‘environmental degradation that has never been experienced’ before on the 12,000-acre site on Britain’s south coast.
Infamous photos also show thousands of beachgoers packed together as ambulance helicopters land to rescue three people who injured themselves jumping off cliffs.
The estate blamed ‘the younger and more geographically and culturally diverse cohort’ from urban areas for huge piles of litter that took weeks to collect. Volunteers reported at the time finding human faeces in food boxes left behind on the sand.
The Lulworth Estate, which owns Durdle Door in Dorset, has complained that huge crowds that headed for Britain’s coasts during the easing of the first lockdown left behind an unprecedented trail of destruction
The estate blamed ‘the younger and more geographically and culturally diverse cohort’ from urban areas for huge piles of litter that took weeks to collect
In a letter to the Government Petitions Committee, the estate has called for a ‘countryside code’ to be put in place ahead of the easing of the third national lockdown, starting in April.
According to The Times, the letter claims the lifting of the first national lockdown led to a surge in visitors who usually go abroad and aren’t used to the rules of ‘leaving no trace’ in the English countryside.
‘The estate usually attracts families with children during the main summer season, but 2020 brought a much younger and more geographically and culturally diverse cohort to the nations’ coast and countryside,’ it added.
‘These visitors were mainly on day visits from cities, not travelling a short distance but sometimes driving four or five hours for a day out at the beach. With no foreign holidays, whole cities decamped into rural Britain.’
In a letter to the Government Petitions Committee, the estate has called for a ‘countryside code’ to be put in place ahead of the easing of the third national lockdown, starting in April
The estate added that the ‘hit-and-run’ approach to holidays had a serious impact on the countryside with ‘mass littering, flycamping, graffiti, fire and other environmental concerns’.
‘We earnestly do not want a repeat of this for the upcoming spring and summer as delicate environments cannot sustain the level of degradation they received in 2020.’
Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove and other parts of the Jurassic Coast are routinely voted among the most beautiful in the UK and attract a wide range of visitors throughout the year.
Natural England, a watchdog body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DeFRA) said it was updating its code for visitors to the countryside to make it more relevant to the new type of visitor.
It comes as Dorset’s police chief warned his force is preparing to stop the influx of tourists this spring after it was swamped last summer.
Chief constable James Vaughan said officers were ready to slap visitors with fines if they were found to be breaking coronavirus lockdown measures.
It comes as Dorset’s police chief warned his force is preparing to stop the influx of tourists this spring after it was swamped last summer
He added they would make use of a fleet of tow-trucks to remove illegally parked at tourist hotspots.
Roadblocks will also be set up on the county border and visitors who have made an unnecessary journey will be told to leave.
Chief Constable Vaughan said over 75 per cent of fines issued in Dorset between March to last month were to people who lived outside the county.
He said: ‘We are worried about the forthcoming half-term. The timing is rotten. We are still in a lockdown but people are fatigued with Covid restrictions.
‘We are asking people please to stay local, we don’t expect people to travel into Dorset and we will be putting on patrols to monitor any travel, turning people around when they come into the county and giving people fines.
‘It should be really quite clear now that it’s not appropriate to travel.
‘I can see why people would be tempted to sneak to the beach, but we are not going to tolerate it, the public have asked us to be firmer with restriction breaches, as have the government.’
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