This is what Hastings cleaners have to face in the morning

Bins that were not seagull proof had spilled their waste over Havelock Road while an unravelled toilet roll and large plastic food container had been abandoned on the street outside Yates. The pictures were taken at 5.15am.

Hastings Borough Council came under fire earlier in the week following complaints of litter on the seafront following the hot, busy weekend as a new waste and recycling contract got underway.

A council spokesperson said, at the time: “We have invested a lot of time and energy into making reporting problems like litter bins that need emptying, very quick and easy. At the same time we have improved how effectively we deal with problems that are reported to us.

“In addition, we will shortly be putting more bins along the seafront which will help with the issue of bin capacity.

“It was a particularly challenging weekend for the new service to launch on given how hot and therefore busy it was, and with the St Leonards Festival was on. Overall, the service operated well, with few complaints. Teething issues are normal with such a significant service change.

There was some sympathy for the council though with comments that local people and visitors using the beach should take large quantities of rubbish home with them.

One Old Town resident commented: Litter bins should be for small items of waste such as ice-cream wrappers, but over the weekend I say big plastic bags of litter just dumped alongside or on top of waste bins, where people had been having parties and barbecues on the beach. The bins are not designed for that.”

But another resident commented: “It’s not good enough for the council to say it got caught out by a busy weekend in July. Hastings is a busy seaside resort and they should have the mechanisms in place to deal with that. They seemed surprised that lots of people headed to Hastings on a hot summer day. If you are going to launch a new waste contract that need time to bed in, then why do it over a busy summer weekend when there is a major event in the town?”