worse.

But clean-up staff are battling hard to keep the areas in pristine condition, taking away truckloads of glassware amongst rubbish collected from the sites each day.

Bill Cook, Director of Parks, said he had noticed a decline in the cleanliness at coastal areas, and particularly an increase in the number of glass products.

Parks staff do take the glass away, including picking up bottles around litter bin areas, but it is impossible for a total sweep to take place.

In addition all accessible public beaches are raked, but that usually means the rubbish is returned to the sea.

Mr. Cook said he had seen the situation decline in the last nine years and partly blamed an increase in consumer demand for drinks and other glass-bottled goods.

He said it was not only beaches that bore the brunt of the mess, roadsides and other public areas also suffered.

Much of the glass goes unseen because of the lush vegetation on Bermuda, he said.

And he said it was wrong to entirely blame tourists for the rubbish left on beaches, since 90 percent of waste came from the country itself.

One possible solution would be a bottle deposit scheme, which Mr. Cook said had worked wonders in other parts of the world, but he feared it would be unpopular with distributers and manufacturers.

There was a need for education on the part of the public, particularly the older generation, who are put to shame by the youngsters when it comes to disposing of litter.

Parks Minister John Barritt said the Government relied heavily on Keep Bermuda Beautiful and the public to keep the beaches in tip top condition.

"We rely on people to use the bins but it is a sad fact that some just ignore them,'' he said.