EXTRA council staff are working in Helensburgh and Lomond to deal with additional litter from visiting tourists, a council official has said.

At a meeting of local councillors, Angela Anderson, chair of Plastic Free Helensburgh, voiced concerns that the town was becoming “pretty overwhelmed” with rubbish on busy days.

She also sought for dedicated recycling bins to be made available in the town, but council network and standards manager Hugh O’Neill said that while he would investigate, costs could be prohibitive.

The matter was raised during public question time at a virtual meeting of Argyll and Bute Council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on Thursday, June 17.

Ms Anderson said: “Helensburgh Community Council and ourselves have regular litter picks and beach cleans, but on busy days we are pretty overwhelmed with rubbish.

READ MORE: Pictures from Helensburgh's latest beach litter pick as residents roll up their sleeves to clean shoreline

“Bags are put beside the bins and the only thing that causes rubbish to scatter are the seagulls. We just wonder if there is a plan to put in bigger, better bins over the weekends or bank holidays?

“There is no provision for recycling along the front. Having spoken to a number of visitors, they would be happy to do that if it was possible. Quite often, rubbish is separated.

“Also, we are looking for plastic free town spaces and have a number of businesses signed up. We are going to have a survey and tackle takeaways on single-use polystyrene.

“I would also like to commend the council on the clear-up work they do every morning after the bins have been full overnight. It just seems a contrary policy to do it that way.”

Mr O’Neill replied: “I have spoken to our operations manager and we have extra staff working through the summer from 2.30pm to 8pm, covering Helensburgh, Luss and Duck Bay.

READ MORE: In Pictures: Young Clynder litter pickers do their bit for a cleaner planet

“This is with a view to picking up excess waste, getting put there by more and more people attending. We are actively trying to look at that.

“Recycling is a matter I will have to deal with away from the meeting. We need to be careful as that will come at a cost for us, but I will speak to our operations manager.”

George Freeman (Independent, Lomond North) added: “There are major problems with litter, particularly at Luss and Arrochar.

"f we are talking about additional resources then clearly communities in my ward would want to be involved in talks.

“I think we should be waiting to review the effect [the additional staffing] has, and then coming back at the end of the season to consider whether there is a need, and whether resources are available to provide additional bins.”