Deckchair abuse at Little Armier

On Sunday, July 2, after a long week of hard work, we decided to spend some time relaxing at Little Armier Bay, as we have done most Sundays for the past couple of years.

The situation there is getting increasingly worse: most of the beach (at least 75 per cent) along the shore line is taken up by deckchairs, most of them empty. The rest of the beach is overcrowded as people who do not wish to hire out a sunbed and an umbrella practically rub against each other.

We decided that we should move a couple of these empty deckchairs without causing any discomfort to fellow bathers and sit on our towels on the sand. However, an arrogant beach concession owner came along and started to shout abuse at us, threatening us that he was going to "remove us" himself. He said that he had a permit to take up the sandy beach with these deckchairs and that if we wanted to we should go ahead and report him to the authorities.

This abuse has been going on for years and, much to our amazement, it is once again going to happen this year as well.

What rights do we have as citizens? Are there any rights left for us to spend at least a lazy Sunday at the beach without having to be provoked, and having to hire out deckchairs and umbrellas against our wishes?

When is some local council, the police or Government, or any other person going to stand up and take action? It seems that year after year these pleas are falling on deaf ears.