Visiting yachtsmen have been blamed for turning various Hamilton recreational spots into unsightly garbage tips.

Mountains of trash were dumped at a number of waterfront parks in the city over the weekend, prompting complaints from park users.

One member of the Corporation of Hamilton claimed the problem will continue unless officials give the go-ahead for garbage collection crews to work overtime on Saturdays and Sundays. But Hamilton Mayor Graeme Outerbridge dismissed that claim, and instead accused boaters of “antisocial behaviour” who were being irresponsible.

Yesterday morning The Royal Gazette witnessed piles of trash littering a number of parks along Front Street, with Albuoy’s Point, Barr’s Bay Park and the area around the Hamilton Ferry terminal particularly affected.

Corporation trash bins at Albouy’s Point were completely full and bags of waste had been placed against them.

The Corporation source, who asked not to be named, said that the municipality garbage collectors were only authorised to work during the week. As a result, designated garbage bins throughout the city were not emptied during the weekend, resulting in an overflow of trash.

“There’s a solution to the problem if management allowed trash to be collected at the weekend,” the source said.

“That’s what they used to do. There would be teams putting in a few hours on a Saturday and Sunday morning, just to keep on top of things.

“But now, because of cut backs and financial concerns, they appear to have stopped doing that.

“So people are coming into town on a Monday morning and, because it hasn’t been cleared since the Friday morning, there’s trash everywhere.

“It’s particularly bad in the summer. Would you like to come and bring your children here and sit down among all this?

Mother-of-two Shacolbi Basden said she regularly brought her children to Albouy’s Point.

“I come here two or three times a week and we’ve come to consider it our back yard, so this is particularly offensive,” Ms Basden said. “It’s particularly ironic that you have bags of trash placed right up against signs saying that no dumping is allowed here — it really is unacceptable.”

Last night Hamilton Mayor Graeme Outerbridge said he noticed the problem when he drove through the city yesterday morning, and immediately asked municipality technical officers to investigate.

The mayor pointed out that collection schedules had not been changed since 2010, and that some staff did work at weekends.

He also pointed out that large dumpsters were available at certain locations whenever regular trash bins became full.

And he said that boaters tied up at the marina had caused an increase in trash flow.

Last night Mr Outerbridge said: “Garbage collection is done as per the garbage collection schedule and has been unchanged since 2010.

“We are having issues with boaters unloading all their garbage on the docks at Barr’s Bay, Albouys Point and Ferry Terminal.

“The trash is piled next to bins as it will not fit into the bins, but there are large dumpsters to accommodate this trash at both Albouys Point and Barr’s Bay but they are not used by all.

“I personally feel this is an enforcement issue rather than one where the Corporation of Hamilton should provide extraordinary services for people who wish to dump their trash in the city.

“The Corporation has staff on Saturday morning that services the bins on the waterfront and the Corporation clears the large dumpsters on the waterfront on Sunday morning.

“It would be extremely helpful if The Royal Gazette could assist in highlighting this antisocial behaviour which can easily be remedied with people being responsible with their trash.”