A family’s day out at one of Britain’s cleanest beaches took a grim turn after they were forced to wade through a ‘waterfall’ of urine.
Broadstairs’ Botany Bay in Kent is famed for its golden sands and striking white chalk cliffs.
The holiday hotspot, located in Thanet, even holds the prestigious Blue Flag status for meeting high environmental and safety standards.
But for Angela Abrahams who visited the beach with her two young grandchildren – it was far from summer fun.
She described the experience as ‘appalling’ and said it left her vowing never to return.
Angela told KentLive: ‘We spent about four hours on the beach having the most fantastic time.
‘Just before lunch, we decided to head off, intending to come back down after, but as we started to climb the stairs, we could see a cascade of urine coming down.’
The family tried to avoid the worst of it, attempting to walk on nearby shrubs, but the deluge left them no choice.
‘The smell was unbelievable,’ Mrs Abrahams said, ‘We had no option, and I cannot tell you how awful that was – it’s appalling in this day and age.’
The stream of urine came from public toilets at the top of the stairs which were overflowing on one of the busiest weekends of the summer.
Botany Bay’s Blue Flag status, one of the world’s most recognised awards for clean and safe beaches, has been called into question by the state of the toilet facilities, which are located just off Marine Drive.
Mrs Abrahams, likening the situation to ‘a third-world country,’ criticised the lack of investment in the beach’s facilities.
She added: ‘It’s all very well the council promoting and celebrating a Blue Flag beach, which is just amazing, but if you can’t go to the toilet or even walk past the toilets, it’s like a third-world country.
‘You can’t just have a beach, you’ve got to have facilities, and that toilet block is not fit for purpose. I wouldn’t be surprised if people went away with something nasty.’
Local resident Tina Hubbard, 71, echoed these concerns, fearing that the beach might lose its Blue Flag status if the issues persist.
Recounting a scene she’d witnessed while walking her dog, she said: ‘It was a Saturday in the summer holidays; it wasn’t actually that busy, but it’s still too busy for two toilets that don’t operate properly.
‘I saw a mother trying to get down to the beach with her young children and she was carrying the baby and the little boy – he slipped and fell at one point in it.’
She added: ‘Thanet District Council made funds available for the renovation or restoration of toilet blocks on its beaches but Botany Bay didn’t get anything.’
Thanet District Council (TDC), which manages the beach, has faced criticism for failing to maintain the toilet facilities, which are only open from late March to September.
However, even when open, the loos are often found in a poor state, with rubbish left on sinks and waste overflowing onto the floor.
In response, TDC acknowledged the issue and stated that a review has been conducted, leading to a £1.25 million investment to improve public toilets across the district.
A council spokesperson said: ‘There are plans to put forward a proposal to improve the public toilets at Botany Bay. If these plans are approved and funding secured, new accessible toilets will be installed, with work expected to start in 2025.’
Despite these assurances, the incident has left a sour taste for visitors such as Mrs Abrahams, who concluded: ‘I’m quite a frequent visitor, but I’m not going back again.
‘The most important bit, the health and safety of people visiting, doesn’t seem to be considered.’
It comes after a school in Adelaide, , has been forced to improve the conditions of ‘dirty toilets’ after its students launched a social media campaign to shame the school.