With it looking more and more like we are all going to have to holiday within the UK, Brighton council is preparing for a deluge of visitors to our fair city.

Anyone that endured the horror of Brighton seafront post-lockdown easing last summer will have seen our city absolutely packed to breaking point with visitors. It now appears that this upcoming summer will somehow be even busier.

International travel appears to be a no go for 2021, so Brighton will naturally become the prime staycation site for many Britons wanting to cut loose after lockdown. The issue they always seem unable to see is that people have to live with the Budweiser bottle tsunami they seem to leave in their wake.

This has luckily not been lost on Brighton council, and have formed the basis of the city’s “Covid-19 Road Map Out Of Lockdown: Managing The City Safely and Outdoor Events Programme 2021”

The document details plans that would include more bins, more street cleaners, more anti-litter messaging, more enforcement officers and as-yet-unspecified improvements to seafront facilities.

With the horrors of 2020 still etched in our memories, its best to hope these will do the trick.

“The approach outlined in this report aims to mitigate this risk as far as possible but it would not be possible to eliminate all risks of any incidents of pressure upon city services or other incidents occurring,” the report read.

“Over the summer period last year, as the wave one lockdown restrictions were eased, the city experienced high levels of visitors to our beaches, parks and open spaces. 

“While there is no evidence that the large number of visitors led to transmission of the virus, the crowds on our beaches and in our parks did put pressure upon services such as street and beach cleaning and seafront management.”

“This summer it is anticipated that the number of people travelling to Brighton and Hove for a staycation visit could be higher than ever before because an international travel ban is currently in place.”

Whilst it is obviously frustrating to see the city treated like a festival free-for-all it is worth remembering that A. We all managed to find our own enjoyment last summer, and B. Brighton is built on tourism pounds, and the city’s traders have been driven close to ruin over the last year, so could really do with the cash to stay afloat.

It will be a summer to remember for sure, so why not read our official guide to Brighton beach for a little reminder of how best to approach the summer season.