Businesses in Brean and Berrow have this week come to the rescue of Brean’s beach warden service following cutbacks by cash-strapped Sedgemoor District Council.
The council has slashed in half the funding available for Brean Parish Council to keep the village’s vital beach warden service running.
This year, the district council has allocated just £4,500 to the service – compared to £9,000 last year and £18,000 the previous year.
Beach warden Pete Williams told Burnham-On-Sea.com on Tuesday: “The reduction in funding means there has been a real risk that the parish council would be unable to keep our beach truck running throughout the summer, which we hire from Berrow’s Triangle Garage. Without it, the beach would undoubtedly be more dangerous.”
However, Paul Mellows, who runs Triangle Garage, has stepped in and waived the costs of the truck for the rest of the year to keep the service running.
Dave Scott at Brean’s Northam Farm is also funding the vehicle’s diesel while Jon Harris at Warren Farm is picking up the cost of the vehicle’s tax and insurance.
Paul told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “When I heard about the problems, I wanted to help. We will be out of pocket here, but we all want the beach to be safe and open for everyone.”
And Jon added: “We’re very pleased that we’ll be keeping the vehicle on Brean beach this summer. Cut-backs are being seen everywhere, but we can’t jeopardise safety.”
Our photo shows Paul Mellows handing over the keys to Brean beach warden on Tuesday morning
