Weymouth Beach was once the highest-rated beach in the UK but it has now fallen out of the top ten, according to the TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice Awards 2019.

In the 2017 awards Weymouth was bestowed the honour of Britain’s best beach. However, after slipping down the rankings to fifth place last year, Weymouth is no longer featured in the top-ten UK shortlist.

The winners are determined based on the quality and quantity of traveller reviews and ratings for beaches on TripAdvisor gathered over a 12-month period.

Weymouth resident Sue Bonham-Lovett has lived in the area for 18 years. She said that Weymouth is still a lovely beach, but admitted that litter has become a growing problem. “I find doggy bags, condoms and needles much more,” she said, “Another thing that has made the beach worse is not letting dogs on it anymore. People love walking their dog along the beach but they’re not allowed from Good Friday onwards. It’s a shame for residents, especially elderly people who moved down here to so they can walk their dog on the beach because can’t go anywhere else.”

Another local resident, who walks their dog on the beach every morning, said: “This time of year its down to the community and everyone taking responsibility, picking up litter when they see it and bringing down extra dog poo bags with them.

“It is a shame that this is what it takes but there are some people who just have this mentality and don’t clean up after themselves. Most people don’t litter but we have to take on that extra responsibility for the ones that do.

“I’m a dog walker and I am down here every morning picking up litter and I have to say, most of it is human litter like empty beer bottles and not dog poo.”

Several holidaymakers wrote to the Echo last year lamenting the state of the town, claiming it was a shadow of its former self. They highlighted aggressive drinkers on the seafront and the general rundown appearance of the resort as reasons why they would not be returning.

Recently seafront businesses claimed gangs of young vandals were causing thousands of pounds of damage,

Elsewhere in Dorset, Bournemouth Beach grabbed the top spot in the UK for the second year on the trot and was also rated sixth in Europe and 20th in the world. However, Weymouth Beach still has 72 per cent excellent reviews and 23 per cent very good reviews.

Cllr Richard Kosior, briefholder for Tourism, Culture and Harbour said: “We all know that Weymouth beach is an enjoyable place to spend quality time. Our teams remain committed to keeping the beach clean, easy to access and safe for our communities and visitors to use. It’s a blue flag and seaside award-winning beach with consistently excellent-rated bathing water quality from the environment agency. TripAdvisor reviews are always subjective.”