'Our village is becoming a party town - we're using CCTV to stop drunk teens'
A UK village is cracking down on wild parties as teens leave litter across the sand and become aggressive.
Shards of glass, laughing gas cannisters and remnants of fires are all regularly found on Polzeath beach and there is concern that the disruptive behaviour is impacting tourism.
Locals are also fed up with the parties, attended by what are believed to be both public and private school students.
The Polzeath Beach Ranger Service said that while "the behaviour is marginally better" so far this year, the litter discarded on the sand is "disgusting".
Following the ongoing issues, CCTV cameras are now being used in an attempt to catch the culprits.
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Polzeath Beach Rangers Bev Samuels and Andy Stewart (Greg Martin / Cornwall Live)Last year saw an influx of teenagers dumping broken bottles of alcohol and laughing gas canisters all over the beach.
On one occasion a police dispersion order had to be issued while on another occasions emergency life-saving equipment was vandalised, reports Cornwall Live.
The parties have also seen trees uprooted and burned, as well as countless Prosecco bottles smashed and left in the sand.
A two-day 10pm curfew was imposed by police in a bid to control the chaos and clear the beach of hundreds of youthful revellers in 2022.
This year, things have changed and a large CCTV camera has been installed to watch the beach. It is lit up by rechargeable floodlights powerful enough to illuminate any untoward behaviour.
Polzeath beach in Cornwall is popular for bathers and surfers (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Andy Stewart, a former police officer who now spends his time combatting anti-social behaviour in the area, said the lights would be switched on at 1am. Bin bags are also handed out to any remaining beach dwellers to clear up the mess.
"We want people to have an amazing time," Andy Stewart, one of the Polzeath beach rangers, told CornwallLive last summer. "Polzeath is a very popular Blue Flag beach and surf resort that attracts all different age groups.
"But it's becoming known as a party town like Newquay was in the 90s when it became full of stag and hen dos. It took 10 years for Newquay to turn itself around and be known as a family-friendly place again.
"We don't want Polzeath to go into decline because once it's gone we'll struggle to get our reputation back."
But this week he said a group of teenagers outright refused to pick up after themselves.
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He told the BBC: "We do not like the cameras, but they are a necessary evil. Sometimes you need to be more intrusive and find out what is going on. You cannot be in every place all the time and the cameras have proven their worth in their first two weeks."
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