Half a million descend on Bournemouth and Poole

The hottest weekend of the year saw half a million visitors descend on Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

A record 1,300 parking tickets were issued on Saturday and Sunday with 15 cars towed away.

BCP Council said: "A dedicated multi-agency summer response plan, put in place to welcome visitors to our coastline, stood up to inspection during the busiest and hottest weekend of the year so far.

"Nearly half a million visitors chose to head to our 15 miles of coastline, where BCP Council, and partners, worked hard to ensure everyone had fun, whilst staying safe.

"The weekend saw records broken, with partners and council colleagues working hard to meet the expected demand."

• More than 60 missing children were reunited with families and guardians

• Toilets remained open from 7am until late, with additional cleansing put in place

• A 24-hour beach patrol took action against those illegally camping with more than 100 tents removed

• 70 tonnes of waste was collected in Poole alone and significant other amounts across the wider area

• Over 1200 people used the park and ride service at Kings Park, Boscombe

• As local roads became congested the council and police put in place temporary road restrictions at Pier Approach in Bournemouth and Sandbanks to alleviate queuing traffic

• A record -breaking, 1300 parking tickets were issued to those who parked irresponsibly with a priority on on-street seafront areas, where a high level of vehicles had parked in contravention causing issues for moving traffic and emergency vehicles.

• 15 vehicles were towed, over the weekend which is more than for the entire of last year. The towaway service running late in to the evening

Councillor Drew Mellor, Leader of BCP Council, said “We were prepared for exceptional visitor numbers to our towns this weekend. Our 15 miles of coastline is the perfect place to enjoy the sunshine, and we were pleased to welcome so many people to our area. Hotels were at capacity and it was great to see our restaurants and bars so busy.

“The multi-agency command control centre was the hub of operations, with 24-hour security in place for the duration of the weekend. Our seasonal response was resilient to the pressures of the weekend and we were able, along with our partner agencies, to respond to issues immediately. I would like to thank our police, fire, coastguard and ambulance services who have been so supportive throughout the whole weekend.

“I was delighted to hear positive feedback from many partner agencies including Bournemouth BID and Sandbanks Community Association praising the “remarkable” success and hard work of our teams.

“Disappointingly, we were faced with significant numbers of illegal parking. We issued a record number of penalty charge notices, and our parking colleagues did a fantastic job, but we recognise that irresponsible parking impacts most on our residents and businesses along our coastline.

“Waste services were also put under pressure to keep on top of the litter and feedback about this service has been excellent from both visitors and businesses.

“Festival Coast Live! was a fantastic complement to the weekend and visitors walking through the gardens were treated to some fantastic live music and dancing. I urge residents to look out for forthcoming events on FCL!.co.uk, follow on the FCL! social media channels. The Beach Check app was also a great tool for our visitors.

“We look forward to welcoming visitors to our world-class beaches throughout the summer and my huge thanks go out to our amazing council and police teams who worked tirelessly on our behalf.”

For further information on the multi-agency summer response plan please click here.