LITTER has reached epidemic proportions at Portishead Lake Grounds according to people living nearby.

Residents living close to the seafront beauty spot are appealing to visitors to take their rubbish home with them when bins become full up.

Councillor David Pasley, whose ward includes the Lake Grounds and whose home overlooks the open space, says the problem has been getting worse for some time and the residents he represents want to see the problem addressed.

He said: “The warmer weather has encouraged a swell in the number of visitors to the Lake Grounds, especially teenagers. While the majority of the youngsters have been very well behaved, when they go home large numbers of them just walk away leaving piles of rubbish from empty cans and bottles to half-eaten bags of chips and sweet wrappers. ”

A spokesman for North Somerset Council said contractors litter pick and empty bins at the Lake Grounds every day but litter can still blight the popular grounds.

Cllr Pasley added: “We increased the number of litter bins in the area last year because people blamed insufficient bins for a litter crisis, but that doesn’t seem to have made much difference. People are still discarding rubbish without a thought.”

Neighbours say the litter gets worse after dark when the Lake Grounds is notorious for antisocial behaviour, especially at weekends.

Sergeant Jim Robinson said: : “Litter is a huge problem in the area but it’s not just the young people who are creating the mess. Police make regular patrols of the Lake Grounds both during the day and at night and if we see people blatantly dropping litter we ask them to pick it up.”

In recent months offenders working under the restorative justice scheme have been put to work litter picking at the Lake Grounds as part of their punishment.

The police say they have stepped up their presence in the area since vandals attacked the cricket pavilion two weekends running in March, causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage. Both councillors and the police say they will continue to monitor behaviour in the area.