This was the unpleasant scene that greeted people enjoying Weymouth’s golden sands early one summer morning.

Bottles, cans and drinks packaging were among the items left by revellers on Weymouth beach.

A resident photographed this mess of deckchairs strewn about along with a large amount of litter on an early morning walk along the town beach.

The picture was shared with the Echo by James Brown, who said: “Some tourists we welcome, some we would rather you go elsewhere.

“The council work very hard in the morning clearing the streets and the gulls tend to empty the bins over pavements.

“However this really demonstrates how some people have no regard but for themselves.

“They help themselves to deck chairs and can't be bothered to put them back and leave all their rubbish and walk away.

“I'm hoping that the people who did this see this post and people's comments and at least one of the group thinks next time to do the right thing.”

The beach mess was left during peak tourist season and not long after Weymouth beach was declared the Sunday Times’ best beach.

A spokesperson for Weymouth Town Council, which is responsible for maintaining the beach, said it was 'disappointing' to see the mess on the sands as there are ‘plenty of bins’ provided along the seafront.

People who saw a picture of the state of the beach, which was shared on social media, echoed the council’s sentiments.

“Some people have no respect for the beach area and nature anywhere else. I dread to think what state their homes are in,” Sue McDermott said.

Zoe Bell said: “It's absolutely disgusting. Rubbish lines the streets, natural spaces and coastline of the UK. I just don't understand why people think this kind of behaviour is ok.”

“They are disrespectful and have no pride,” Mary Gammage said.

A spokesman for Weymouth Town Council said: “We are disappointed to see litter left lying on the beach as there are plenty of bins provided along the seafront, and people can also take their rubbish home with them.

“Our normal routine for cleaning starts at 6am, seven days a week throughout the summer holidays.

“This includes beach raking and manually collecting litter and emptying bins.”