A FUMING eco-conscious resident has blasted the disrespectful perpetrators who continue to tarnish his town, asking: “What is wrong with the society we live in?”

Nic Grey, 64, has happily lived in Dovercourt for five years, but has recently started to find it plagued with carelessly disregarded waste and litter.

Last month, for example, he raised concerns over the amount of rubbish he was consistently finding strewn across the coastal area’s otherwise beautiful beaches.

During a dog walk, Mr Grey’s beloved pet pooch also cut her paw open on smashed bottles hidden in long grass behind the Dovercourt Swimming Pool, in Wick Lane.

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The concerned resident also regularly finds takeaway food packaging thrown away in country lanes, which he says is further blighting the seaside town.

Following a recent stroll, during which he proactively looked out for abandoned waste, Mr Grey has now reached the end of his tether.

He said: “Dovercourt has a litter problem and during an early morning walk I managed to fill my litter bag four times on the recreation ground and the beach.

“Vodka bottles had also been smashed against equipment causing a pile of broken glass where both kids play and dogs walk.

“My wife and I even filled a bag with cans and bottles whilst walking through the lovely farmland, where debris had just been casually thrown into the growing crops.

“Surely this behaviour needs addressing and it begs the question, just what is wrong with the society we live in?”

Mr Grey has now called on rubbish dumpers to take more responsibility and Tendring Council to do more to ensure Dovercourt is kept in a respectable condition.

“Having an open top bin where gulls are in large quantities is utterly pointless as they just pull the contents out, and I have mentioned this to the council before,” he added.

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“We have wonderful beaches but every year I feel the need to highlight the blight of litter that affects our wonderful coastline.

“I have a friend who lives in Czech Republic and the pictures he sends me of his town are stunningly free of any litter whatsoever.

“So, we need constant council operatives, because this mess is a daily problem and it really needs addressing – it is unpleasant to see and harmful.”

Michael Talbot, Tendring councillor responsible for environment, said the council works hard to keep town centres and beaches clean and tidy – but the public needed to play their part too.

“Our contractors employ additional seasonal staff to cope with the influx of visitors we have to the area, while we deploy an extra 150 bins during the summer to help cope with demand," he added.

"We also support a number of community litter picks, with black bags and pickers and collecting the rubbish from them afterwards.

“However, people also need to take responsibility for their own rubbish – a full bin is no excuse. If a bin is full, then keep hold of your rubbish until the next one or take it home with you. If you do use a bin, crush your waste so we can fit as much into a bin as possible.”