A popular West Country beach has been plagued by rowdy ' feral rich kids' causing havoc. From uprooting and burning trees to vandalising emergency equipment, locals have been dismayed at the youngsters' actions.
Countless smashed bottles of Prosecco were found alongside empty gas canisters last year during the summer season. But now locals in Polzeath in Cornwall have been taking matters into their own hands to ensure the same events don't happen again, reports Cornwall Live.
Locals believe private school pupils were behind the trouble as it started two weeks before state school summer holidays began. A two-day 10pm curfew was imposed by police in a bid to control the chaos. And now CCTV is being installed across the beach.
READ MORE: UK's 'worst seaside town' wants to rival West Country as Britain's top tourist destination
“We want people to have an amazing time,” Andy Stewart, one of the Polzeath beach rangers told Cornwall Live in 2022 after the trouble erupted. “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 past two pandemic summers and found itself going downhill fast. “Polzeath is 99.5% awesome,” Andy, a former Devon and Cornwall Police officer, added. “We just don’t want the 0.5% to spoil it all for everyone else.”
Stay up to date with the latest on this story and more by signing up to our daily newsletter, delivering our top stories straight to your inbox
“We got a lot of flak for being outspoken,” Bev Samuels, a fellow Polzeath beach ranger who moved to the village after retiring from the Met Police, added: “We’re just saying it as it is, and we will do what we can so it doesn’t get worse. That’s why we’ve gone on social media to highlight these incidents which have blighted Polzeath recently.”
“It’s about positivity,” Andy who lives in Wadebridge, insisted. “But at the same time, anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.”
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 when post-pandemic the place she calls home started deteriorating.
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.” Tim Jenkins, who has been selling homemade pasties from his Pasty Cellar shop for 12 years, fears it will probably be his last season.
He’s had enough with what Polzeath has become, filled with holiday lets and multi-million pounds second homes, and a shrinking local trade.
In the past decade or so, the Wadebridge man has seen many celebs come through the door and far too many old cottages make way for glass and steel expensive second homes where no-one lives except for a couple of weeks of the year. 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. But expensive education doesn’t seem to translate in 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 anymore. 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.”
