DEAR mums, dads, grandparents,

Is it your son, daughter or grandchild, who with others, think it’s ok to have a boozy barbecue or fire and deface the beautiful Nothe Gardens every evening?

Groups of young people meet up there every evening and recently have been breaking lower branches off the lovely trees to light fires.

They move large paving stones from where seats used to be placed, put them near a bench, bring barbecue coals and light fires with these broken off (or even sawn off) branches, leaving all their debris there for the wonderful young man from Dorset Council to clear up in the morning.

Some mornings it is absolute devastation out there with cans, bottles, food packaging, disposable barbecues, serviettes etc., strewn everywhere, plus the added mess in the bushes where they have used the areas as toilets.

Every morning the council man is out there cleaning all this up for others throughout the day to enjoy this wonderful big space overlooking the sea. I doubt many people using the area realise what a huge amount of clearing up goes on early in the morning before they take their daily stroll or have their picnic on the grass later in the day.

So, parents and grandparents, can I ask that you have a word with any young people connected to you where they are going with their large packs of beer and barbecues, and suggest that they act much more responsibly when using public places for their evening enjoyment.

I think the young man out cleaning the Nothe every morning deserves a medal for his patience and dedication to keeping this area beautiful for us all to enjoy.

A Weymouth resident.

Name and address supplied