Mount Batten beach reopens

Plymouth City Council is pleased to announce that after being closed for several weeks, the majority of Mount Batten beach has reopened. It was closed in April as a health and safety precaution following the discovery of asbestos-containing materials (small pieces of cement).

Signs are up around the beach to show which areas are closed and what the asbestos-containing materials look like. Visitors to the beach are advised not to touch, pick up or tread on the asbestos-containing materials if they see them.

Dr Ruth Harrell, Director of Public Health for Plymouth City Council said: “We are really glad to be able to open the majority of Mount Batten beach in time for the school summer holidays.

“We appreciate it has been inconvenient for regular beach users but the health and safety of our residents is always our top priority and it was important to keep it closed while investigations were ongoing. During the time it was closed our contractors removed more than 600kg of asbestos-containing materials.

“Unfortunately we still have to keep part of the beach closed off there is still one small area to the west of the steps down to Mount Batten beach where we are continuing to find more pieces and we will also be continuing to test the sand in the closed off area for fibres over the coming months and we look forward to reopening it fully.”