Photographer Frank Leppard went to Margate Beach in Kent intending to take some nature photos, only to be confronted by huge piles of rubbish on its golden sands
Appalling photos show the beach at one of England’s most famous seaside resorts covered in rubbish.
Photographer Frank Leppard snapped thousands of empty plastic food containers, drinks cans, glass bottles and soiled cardboard containers on Margate Beach in Kent on Saturday.
The rubbish also attracted scores of hungry seagulls to the sands.
Professional photographer Frank, who lives in the fashionable resort, had planned to go to the sandy beach to take some nature shots at the end of the day.
But he was appalled by what he saw, and shared the grim results on his Twitter and Facebook pages.
Frank wrote: ‘Went to snap the beach at Margate and wish I hadn’t !.
‘Is it because the Council are not putting bins on the beach or is it the visitors fault , either way it’s an utter disgrace.’
Frank’s photos included a snap of a large group of people in the same area of the beach, although it is unclear if these are the people responsible for all the litter.
The pictures were widely shared online, with former Hotel Inspector star Ruth Watson among those condemning the mess.
She tweeted: ‘Not just a disgrace but thoroughly depressing.
‘The same people who leave this revolting mess would not go near the beach if it looked like that on arrival.
‘Symptomatic of our collective selfishness and carelessness.’
Meteorologist Dan Holley also weighed in, writing: ‘A few days of hot weather, and some our beaches look like this.
‘The mind boggles as to how anyone thinks this is an acceptable thing to do. We should be respecting the environment, not abusing it…’
