BOURNEMOUTH is gearing up for one of the busiest weekends of the year with sizzling temperatures set to continue.

After being one of the hottest places in the country yesterday, the mercury will drop slightly but rise again next week as the school holidays get under way.

Bournemouth council has announced that street services teams will work round the clock in a bid to keep the town tidy.

Four extra teams will be working in the town centre, Charminster and Winton. There will be twice as many bin collections and special hit teams are targeting specific areas.

More solar-powered compacting bins have been installed from the Travel Interchange down to Horseshoe Common as they can hold more litter and text the council to tell them when they need emptying.

Stuart Best, Street Services Manager, said: “The prolonged spell of glorious weather does mean the team is experiencing an increase in the volume of litter they deal with. In addition, with so many people enjoying barbecues and entertaining at home, our refuse lorries are filling up quicker.

"Our staff have been working extremely hard even in these hot temperatures to keep the streets clean and are committed to ensuring that the town remains looking its best for our residents and visitors.’’

Emergency services are also likely to be stretched amid fears of more heath fires and there is still a Met Office level three alert for the whole of the region, just one notch below the most serious level.

Older people, young children, pregnant woman and those with health problems are most at risk and everyone is being encouraged to drink more water.

In Hampshire, gritting lorries have been out dusting roads to keep them from melting in the heat.

 

Our #gritting lorries are dusting sticky roads - ensures bitumen sealed & embedded - Report problems 0845 603 5633 http://t.co/VXws7rTv5q

— Hampshire County C (@hantsconnect) July 18, 2013


 

Last weekend was the busiest day of the year as 120,000 people headed down to the beach, and this weekend is expected to be just as busy, if not busier.

Ice cream sales have been soaring, deck chairs have been rented out and hotels have been booked up.

A spokesperson from Bournemouth Tourism said “We are expecting it to be really busy. We're just trying to encourage people to stay hydrated and apply enough sunscreen.”

“We have beach rangers manning the beaches and litter picks every morning and evening but we still want people to clean up after themselves.”

Vanessa Detquizan, 28, has noticed a huge rise in ice cream sales. She said: “We have been so busy. In a normal week we are selling 500-600 ice creams a day.”

“Last Saturday alone we sold around 1000 ice creams, so that's £3000 basically just on ice creams.”

The figures come from just one till and don't take into account the other ice cream stalls along the beach.

Hot Rocks cafe have also noticed a boost in trade. Carol O'Keefe said: “Last weekend was manic, but we are prepared for this weekend. We have had to put more staff on.”

She added “With the concerts coming up in August we've had a lot of phone calls and interest in that too.”

There are lots of events being staged this weekend with cyclists hitting the streets of Bournemouth tomorrow.

From 6.15 pm until 10.30 pm town centre roads will be closed off for an evening race circuit which will see more than 130 elite cyclists compete at speeds of up to 50mph.

Families will have a wheelie good time from 6.30 pm as thousands enjoy a leisurely peddle around a car-free town.

From 7.10 pm crowds will be able to watch cyclists going head-to-head in a series of intense races and the evening will come to a close with Bournemouth's first ever Nightglow Spectacular.

Tomorrow and Sunday Moors Valley country park will be celebrating its 25th birthday with a Gruffalo trail, and the Bournemouth Masquerade Festival will be staged from noon.

There will be a family fun day at Shelley Park with families and friends who have lost loved ones due to addiction invited to remember them.

A skatejam will be held at Two Riversmeet leisure centre in Christchurch to mark the end of the refurbishment project and the Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival will continue all weekend with the main procession on Sunday at 2 pm.

In Purbeck the Church Knowle Food Festival at the village hall is set to prove a popular draw on Saturday. The action-packed weekend will come to a close with the long-awaited Cherries match against Real Madrid which kicks off at the Goldsands Stadium at Dean Court at 7.45 pm.

The Echo will be liveblogging the build up to the Real Madrid game from 4pm on Sunday followed by the match itself, and running our rolling blog from later this afternoon to keep you up to date with weather, traffic, litter and events.