A smelly “seaweed barrier” is turning tourists away from a popular beach in droves as the local council refuses to remove the kelp.
The large mass washed up on Weymouth Beach in Dorset last month before warm temperatures caused it to dry and emit a stench.
Strong easterly winds have also been blamed for blowing the heap towards the shoreline.
Beachgoers reported having to wade through metres of the seaweed to reach Weymouth’s famed waters and were “covered in it” when they returned to the sand.
One man said his “memories” of the beach had been “shattered with the state the council have decided to leave it in”.
“The vast quantities of wet and drying piles of seaweed had to be walked over if you want to get to the sea,” he wrote on TripAdvisor.
“Saw children crying as they didn’t like walking on it and the days of seeing clear blue clean water where, if you were lucky you could see shoals of baby fish, have gone.”
Another disgruntled tourist complained that the “thick matt of rotting seaweed” had left the beach’s water completed discoloured.
“The sea is brown because it is full of small pieces of seaweed that is washing ashore,” she wrote.
A third tourist, who visited in May, labelled the mass “smelly and slimy”.
However, the Weymouth Town Council was quick to defend its decision to not remove the seaweed mass.
“We appreciate that the seaweed might be unsightly until it is washed back out into the bay but as caretakers of this beautiful and diverse coastal environment, we have made a conscious decision not to routinely remove any animals or plants,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.
“This decision supports our commitment to preserving the ecosystem’s integrity and avoiding any potential harm that may arise from interfering with its natural course.
“Seaweed is an important resource for marine invertebrates and a food source for many species.
“While we understand that our approach may not align with some personal preferences, it is important to note that we are not striving to provide a synthetic, controlled swimming pool experience.
Weymouth Beach is often listed amoung the UK’s top seaside spots and was awarded a Blue Flag for its water quality by charity Keep Britain Tidy last month.
