Councillors have issued a plea for the people of Tenby to get behind community projects in the light of cutbacks to services by the county council.

Members of Tenby Town Council recently commented on how surprised they were that beach cleaning in Pembrokeshire seemed to have ceased over the winter months, pointing to the resort's own South Beach as a problem area for littering matters, especially over school holiday periods that fell out of the summer season.

A response to the issue by Pembrokeshire County Council's head of environment and civil contingencies, Mr. Richard Brown, came before councillors at their meeting on Tuesday night.

"I am able to confirm that whilst we have ended the scheduled cleaning of beaches in the winter and no longer have dedicated beach cleaners for this period, we do have other staff available to attend to issues and concerns of litter if necessary," he said, explaining that the department would continue to monitor the situation at the South Beach and would be commencing a scheduled beach cleansing late in March, prior to the start of the Easter break.

"We are also working with the voluntary sector to assist with the delivery and co-ordination of some community beach cleans.

"As you understand, the financial constraints are significant, but we strive to ensure that Pembrokeshire remains a clean, tidy and attractive environment.

"We do appreciate the continued need to maintain the cleanliness of our streets, countryside and coast for both our residents and visitors alike, whilst trying to operate within the funding available.

"Accordingly as things stand there are no intentions to reinstate dedicated scheduled beach cleaning for the school holiday periods, but will continue to check, monitor and respond accordingly to ensure that standards of beach cleanliness remain acceptable," continued Mr. Brown.

Responding to the correspondence, Clr. Hayden Johns said it was worrying that there was still a lack of bins on the South Beach.

"There were piles of black rubbish bags in that area again recently on a beautiful sunny day," he told his fellow councillors.

Clr. Will Rossiter said that he was surprised to find the South Beach so clean recently, while Clr. Mike Evans praised locals who had adopted certain beaches in Tenby to look after out of season, mentioning the Castle and Harbour Beaches as examples of what could be achieved.

"The cutbacks to beach cleaning services are not going to change over the next five years, so it's important that we offer those locals that have adopted the beaches, help in anyway and find out what's needed to assist them," he commented.

"We really need more community input and a plea for time and effort from the people of Tenby to get behind us, as maybe we need to get back to the way it was a few years ago, when everybody would muck in," said Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter.

Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane, agreed and said that she had already had an offer from a local business person for their staff to conduct a beach clean for an hour every Sunday, to help with organisations such as Tenby in Bloom.