BEACHES across the UK are looking at banning day time drinking this summer to prevent anti-social behaviour and boozed-up fights.
Domestic holidays boomed last year due to international travel bans, but also led to huge crowds and problems at holiday hotspots.
In June, a fight between nearly 200 sunbathers broke out on a busy beach in Devon, while in August a number of brawls were reported at Brighton beach.
Hartlepool Councillors want to ban all drinking in the day time across the Seaton Carew promenade which includes the beaches and nearby parks, after people were caught fighting and urinating in public last summer.
According to local media, this means drinking alcohol will be banned from 6am until 8pm from next month, and will run until the beginning of October.
Councillor Sue Little said: "It's the anti-social behaviour aspects of the drinking that we're trying to enforce, it's when people start urinating all over the place, exposing themselves in front of families walking along the prom.
"That's not acceptable and that's the kind of behaviour that we're trying to stop in Seaton, we're a lovely family resort.
"It's the nuisance that the alcohol causes that residents in Seaton are wanting to stop, we had about 12 weeks of hell in Seaton with people urinating everywhere and exposing themselves, we don't want that in Seaton, we don't want that in Hartlepool."
Councillor Marjorie James said that it hoped to allow families to be able to enjoy the beach, but will allow the night-time economy to remain unaffected: "It would see the best of both worlds, it would allow for the evening economy to take place after 8pm during the summer, but it would protect children and families before 8pm."
Anyone who breaks the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) will face fines up to £1,000.
While it is yet to be rolled out to other beaches around the UK just yet, new measures are being introduced to prevent similar problems that occurred last year.
Bournemouth beach wants to introduce flying drones for crowd control, Covid marshals and a park-and-ride scheme to prevent gridlock and busy roads.
More than 500,000 people tried to flock to Bournemouth beach on the hottest day of the year last June.
The local council said the new measures were being introduced to "cope better across the resort with the anticipated surge in demand," adding: "Peak days will be managed like a major event."
Dorset beaches are currently planning how to control huge crowds, such as Durdle Door which was so busy last year that it led to police closing the beach.
Margate beach is also looking at ways to avoid similar problems to last year which included anti-social behaviour and littering.
Devon and Cornwall police have called for 500 more officers to be able to cope with demand this summer as staycationers are expected to flock to the beaches.
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