Teens who left a lakeside beauty spot resembling an inner city grotspot have been shamed into going back to pick up the mess.
A large area of tranquil Isthmus Bay at the head of Derwentwater, was discovered strewn with masses of litter following a large gathering last Friday night as schools broke up for the Easter holidays.
There have been reports of between 30 and 40 young people congregating for an outdoor party with passing witnesses reporting that some were in Keswick School uniforms, with cannabis being smoked, and fires started to roast marshmallows.
Woodland was left littered with debris including smashed beer and spirits bottles, plastic drinks bottles, aluminium beer and cider cans, leftover takeaway cartons and even a make-up bag and other personal belongings.
The mess has been condemned by local environmental group Sustainable Keswick which strives to reduce waste, which said those who left it had “no regard” for people, while the National Trust, owners of Isthmus Wood, said they were “saddened” by the scenes.
Keswick dog walker Tracy Waugh was the first across the scene early on Saturday morning. She said: “It was just devastating really. I walk there every morning and it was horrible to see it like that.
“I have seen it in a mess before but never quite as bad as that. It generally tends to happen when the children break up from school.”
She was so appalled that she took a series of photographs of the carnage left behind and gathered up incriminating evidence of those responsible, and posted it to Facebook.
Dozens of people have condemned the mess as a “disgrace and disgusting,” while others passing the area on the night told of having seen between 30 to 40 young people in attendance.
But Tracy said this week that the story did at least have a happy ending of sorts as responsible parents who saw the photographs messaged her to say that they had tackled their youngsters about it, some of which had come clean and admitted they were there, and agreed to go back to bag up the mess.
Others unconnected to the incident also volunteered to give a helping hand to clean it up, with around eight to nine black bin bags, of rubbish duly collected.
Keswick Launch also made a skip available so that the piles of rubbish could be properly disposed of.
Tracy stressed: “It’s not just Keswick kids. I had messages from parents in Whitehaven and Bothel and they were volunteering that they had been there and would go down and clean it up – not all of them but some of them – which was honest of them.
“By 12.30pm on Saturday a lot of it had gone. It’s so lovely down there and it’s such a nice place for us to have to walk.”
Terry Sloan, chairman of Sustainable Keswick, said: “Whoever left this mess can have no regard for either the environment or other people.”
