CONCERNED town leaders are pressing for a better cleaning regime of a Portishead beauty spot after it was left covered in rubbish over

CONCERNED town leaders are pressing for a better cleaning regime of a Portishead beauty spot after it was left covered in rubbish over the Bank Holiday weekend.Thousands of visitors flooded to the Lake Grounds to enjoy the sunny weather over the Easter break.But many left their rubbish behind them, covering the sloping banks by the rose garden and part of the main field with litter.One of the worse hit spots was the bank by the rose garden which was left strewn with broken bottles, cans and left over charcoals from barbecues.Youngsters also caused problems at the beauty spot, gathering there, drinking until the early hours and disturbing local residents.One 59-year-old Beach Road West resident and his wife were woken up numerous times over the weekend by noisy youths.The resident, who did not want to be named, said: "It was about 1am and there were two groups of youths, one of about 20 and another about 30 strong. They were being very noisy and making a nuisance of themselves. The litter that was left was very bad with chip papers and broken bottles and cans everywhere."Portishead Local Action Team chairman Reyna Knight said she was 'appalled' at the state of the Lake Grounds over the weekend.Mrs Knight said: "I had numerous complaints from people who were disgusted at the state of the place."There were remains of barbecues and broken glass everywhere which just shows people have been drinking despite the alcohol ban."I am appalled that one of our beauty spots which is used by so many people was allowed to get in such a state." Portishead councillor David Pasley received so many complaints about the growing rubbish mountain he was forced to ring North Somerset's emergency helpline and press for a cleaning team to attend.Cllr Pasley said: "When there is likely to be an influx of people to the area then surely it would make sense to increase the cleaning to prevent situations like this from occurring."I will also be asking North Somerset to provide more litter bins in the area. Local people pay for council services such as this and the authority is letting them down."North Somerset Council spokesman Richard Turner said: "We acknowledged that there was a problem with litter over the Bank Holiday weekend. As a result our contractors have agreed that on holiday weekends they will carry out two rather than one litter pick at the Lake Grounds to try and prevent the situation occurring again.