Dorset councillor 'spat at and verbally abused' as thousands descended on Durdle Door

"We are not a bunch of locals with pitch folks saying don't come here, we are saying come here in a safe and managed way"
Ellena Cruse26 June 2020

A councillor says she was spat at and verbally abused while directing crowds at a beach in Dorset.

Councillor Laura Miller slammed some of the Durdle Door visitors on Thursday and said their behaviour was "completely unacceptable".

She said it wasn't just the sheer volume of people but the attitude of travellers as some roads were shut for safety reasons.

Ms Miller also criticised the amount of rubbish left and said volunteers cleared 30 sacks from the small beach.

It comes as Brits flocked to seasides on Thursday and Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned beaches would be shut if the public could not comply with social distancing measures.

Laura Miller said she had a pretty horrible day after being spat at
BBC 5 Live

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live she said: "It was pretty horrible yesterday.

"I think the difficulty is around here we have very narrow roads. We have dangers of traffic and where we closed the roads for public safety people were unwilling to accept that.

People enjoy the hot weather at Durdle Door in Dorset (REUTERS)
Reuters

"So they stayed and in some cases directed abuse at us, in one case actually spat at me, so that wasn't ideal. It was not just the volumes it was the behaviour."

She went on to say her day was made worse by rubbish left discarded on the beach.

People flocked to the beach during the warm weather
REUTERS

"It's not just the abuse, not just the volumes of traffic it the litter," she added.

"Myself and a group of litter pickers volunteers - there were four of us last night - took nearly 30 bin bags from Durdle Door which is quite s small beach and that's just unacceptable."

The presenter of the show pointed out that not everyone is lucky enough to live by the beach and as temperatures sore, it is understandable that people might like to cool down in the sea.

Ms Milller responded: "It's really difficult because it is not just that right to breath in the sea air and all of that, our local industry is dependant on tourism.

"We are not a bunch of locals with pitch folks saying don't come here we are saying come here in a safe and managed way - enjoy yourselves and behave while you are here, don't leave your litter and don't abuse us we are trying to make you have a nice day.

"I think that is a difficult balance because we want our tourism industry, our hospitality industry to thrive. But when it is too busy no one is having fun, locals and visitors alike, no one is having a good day."

Summing up she urged visitors to pre-book parking spaces before they arrive.

She added: "I think the message really is come down, you are able to pre-book, if you are coming to Durdle Door you can pre-book your parking before you leave home so you know you have a space.

"We are trialling that at the moment with the local Lulworth estate. We are hoping that will help."

Mr Hancock told TalkRadio on Thursday the Government had the power to close public areas such as beaches if people flout safety restrictions.

He said he was “reluctant” to go down the route of shutting public spaces as “people have had a pretty tough lockdown”.

But he added that if there was a spike in the number of coronavirus cases “then we will take action”.

Dorset police has been contacted for a comment.

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