Council investigates 'illegal' beach traders

The Sentinel has learned that up to nine ice cream trucks were present on the beach during the spell of good weather on Sunday, May 23. Limavady Borough Council has only awarded six licenses so far this year to vans, who tendered to operate on the popular beach. The council yesterday confirmed that a "trading matter" regarding ice cream vans during the weekend of the 23rd had been passed over to a council solicitor.

The spokesperson added: "It would be inappropriate to comment at this time."

Meanwhile the council also confirmed that "exceptional weather" brought hoards of visitors to beaches across the North Coast on the same weekend. Supplemented litter pickers were brought in on Monday morning to help with the clean up after a large volume of visitors enjoyed the Limavady Borough beauty spot during the sunny period.

A spokesperson said: "There was a large amount of litter at the beach given the numbers of visitors. Council uses a surf rake to clean the beach which is towed behind a tractor. However, given the volume of traffic on the beach it was very difficult to use this equipment on Sunday. Council staff were able to use the equipment the following morning which was supplemented by manual litter picks. Council subscribes to the Leave No Trace programme and would ask all visitors to the site to take their rubbish home with them."

The council adds that beach management teams will now be present on Benone until September. Wardens currently manage the beach every weekend until the season starts at the end of June.