During our annual two-week holiday in west Dorset, we were left dismayed and upset at the state of Abbotsbury beach when we visited on August 30.

Litter had been left all over a long stretch of the lower part of this beguiling beauty spot, which of course is the start of Chesil Bank, a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

This included general food waste, drinks cans, pieces of fishing net and even the head and tail of a fish abandoned on what looked like an improvised barbecue.

We soon fled this environmental nightmare.

Obviously the primary responsibility for this health hazard and scar on the landscape lies with the breathtakingly disrespectful original litterers, but the car park attendant we spoke to didn’t seem to know whether anyone was employed to tidy the area.

It certainly appears to be a vacant position.

Steve, Louise and Jessica Bradley Foxhill Road, Penn, Wolverhampton