New beach mat helps disabled visitors enjoy seaside

The ‘grande plage’ beach at Fos-sur-Mer now has a wooden decking placed on the sand, followed by a long, thick plastic mat leading towards the sea.

The mat, which has been placed by the local commune, helps people in wheelchairs and those with limited mobility to access the beach and sea.

Its blue colour makes it easier for those with reduced sight to see it against the yellow sand, and it also provides a hard surface, indispensable for anyone relying on wheels to get around.

The beach also provides ‘master swimmers’ near the waterfront, whose job it is to help weaker beach-goers in and out of the water, as well as 'tiralos’: deckchair-style seats mounted on thick wheels that can be pulled around easily on the sand.

The scheme will run until 1 September and again next year.

Jean Hetsch, first deputy mayor in charge of social affairs in the town, said the scheme had cost the commune just €4 200, and “allowed us to offer those with handicap issues the most normal conditions in which to go to the water”.

Before the scheme, only a concrete ramp gave access to the beach, and it did not offer easy access to both sand and sea.