Irresponsible campers are likely responsible for glass at Clearwater Beach that caused serious injury to a child, a restaurant owner has claimed.

Gombeys Bar and Restaurant owner Marlon Laws said he and his staff regularly collect garbage between Clearwater Playground and Turtle Bay to keep the area clean for beachgoers.

He said he was "shocked" to read in The Royal Gazette that glass in the sand at Clearwater had caused an accident.

Daente Burgess was playing at the beach when he stepped on buried glass. The four-year-old was taken to Southside Emergency Care Centre, where it was determined he needed 25 stitches to repair the cut.

"Me and my staff pick up all the garbage around here it's not even our garbage," said Mr. Laws.

While Gombeys does serve beer in bottles at its premises, Mr. Laws suspects that the broken glass was left by any of a number of campers who set up tent near the beach over the Cup Match holiday.

Yesterday, a Parks Department official reiterated that drinking alcohol on Bermuda's beaches is against the law: "It is absolutely, unequivocally illegal to drink intoxicating substances in any public place."

Continued Mr. Laws: "Some of those campers are just rude. They don't give a damn about anything.

"Shoes, clothes, shades you'd be surprised what we've found around here. We clean it all up. I'm not even supposed to have to do that. I knew people would think that it's our garbage, the same way people thought the big fight was here. It was at the roundabout. It was nowhere near here.

"This is a family friendly place. A happy place. It is safe and secure."