A seaside village is preparing itself for a fortnight of rowdy posh teenagers partying and romping on the beach. It's claimed Polzeath residents have already put in place a string of defensive measures to stop a repeat of the chaotic scenes they have seen previously in their Cornwall hamlet.
Last year, an influx of teenagers dumped broken bottles of alcohol and laughing gas canisters all over the village's beautiful beach, as well as vandalising emergency life-saving equipment. Trees were also uprooted and burned, and countless Prosecco bottles were smashed and left in the sand, reports Cornwall Live.
Locals believed the "feral" youths were private school pupils because they had arrived two weeks prior to state schools stopping for the Summer. A two-day 10pm curfew was imposed by police in a bid to control the chaos and clear the beaches of hundreds of youthful revellers, who lit fires using surrounding benches, fences and stolen shed doors.
This time around the town is prepared; large CCTV camersa have been installed to watch the beach, which will be lit up by rechargeable floodlights powerful enough to illuminate any untoward behaviour.
Andy Stewart, a former police officer who now spends his time combating anti-social behaviour in the area, said the lights would be switched on at 1am and bin bags handed out to any remaining beach dwellers to clear up the mess.
Polzeath has long had a reputation as a home of the rich and famous, with Fatboy Slim, Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Grant and David Cameron all enjoying time in the village.
“We want people to have an amazing time," Mr Stewart said. "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.”
Like many coastal towns and villages in Cornwall, Polzeath was overwhelmed with visitors more often associated with the ‘Brits-abroad-in-Benidorm crowd’ during the pandemic summers and found itself going downhill fast, locals claim.
“Polzeath is 99.5 per cent awesome. We just don’t want the 0.5 per cent to spoil it all for everyone else," Mr Stewart added.
Polzeath Beach Rangers was formed in 2019 by Cornwall Council, before being devolved to St Minver Highlands Parish Council, as a way to provide a focal point for "problem solving" and ensure the beach keeps its chilled vibe in the summer months - days and nights.
Kerensa Beer-Robson has been trading out of the Beach Box cafe for seven years and was one of the driving forces behind the Polzeath Together campaign, a local community activism group. The scheme brings together Cornwall Council, the police, fire service, RNLI, the Environment Agency, as well as local traders and beach rangers to help tackle the growing problems of anti-social behaviour that the village as a whole has been suffering from.
“We love visitors and we need them,” Kerensa said. “We have no issue with tourists as we rely on them. The more the merrier. But it’s the tiny minority who are wrecking it for everyone else that we have issues with.
"We are trying to get through to them and get the message out. Police have upped the ante too and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated. It’s not a ‘them and us’ thing. We rely on tourism but we want the beach to be enjoyable by everyone.”
Last year the owner of Pasty Cellar in Polzeath, Tim, said he had enough with what Polzeath has become, filled with holiday lets and multi-million-pound second homes, and a shrinking local trade. He said the popularity of Polzeath has been such that the village has lost its soul and has become a ghost town in winter months.
“I’ve seen these kids get dropped off at mummy and daddy’s second home with a credit card and a bag of booze. Happy days," he told CornwallLive. "But expensive education doesn’t seem to translate into good behaviour - at least for a minority of them. It’s like they go feral. I think it’s the attitude of the parents that’s to blame.
“It doesn’t help that there’s no local trade any more. Everyone is trying to do the same thing. There are so many pop-up shops now. I’m annoyed with the way it’s become overdeveloped.
"I think it’ll probably be my last season. I’ve had enough of having to try to make all my money in nine weeks when I still have to pay rent 12 months of the year.”
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