PLANS to bring back three lorry loads of sand from the Pamucak Coastline to top up Didim’s main beaches were left decidedly on the beach this week.

Didim Mayor Deniz Atabay explained the resort’s sands were are eroded away by nature and changes to the eco-system.

To combat the difficulties, the council each winter gets permission from coastal municipalities to remove sand for the beaches back in Didim.

But the wheels of bureaucracy moved a lot slower than the wheels of the three lorries that were dispatched from Didim to collect sand from the Pamucak Coastline, which falls under the Selcuk Council.

There appears to have been a misunderstanding between Didim and Selcuk Municipality teams due to a delay in the procedures.

Mr Atabay explained: “Our municipal teams went to get sand from the Pamucak coast without any further application.

“Selçuk municipal squads came and stopped the work while the sand was loaded on the trucks. The sand was drained back off the trucks.

“Our teams came back without sand. This happened because of a delay in procedures.”

Mr Atabay, who was in Istanbul at the time, was alerted to the situation and contacted the Selçuk mayor to explain the situation himself. “We will get sand from Pamucak Beach by issuing a written request into Selçuk Municipality,” he added