Beach clean encourages interest in litter issues

For the youngest member of the group, nine-year-old Thomas Kearns, it was his first beach clean and he conducted a small survey to better understand the problem of litter on the beach.

The conclusion from the questionnaires he handed out was that the amount of litter collected was less than in previous years but revealed that single-use plastic is still a big problem.

Thomas said: “I was surprised at the variety of items found and I will make sure that when my friends visit the beach they take their litter home with them.”

The group heard that the common cause of seabird deaths is marine plastic and leatherback turtles have been found in UK waters tangled with plastic bags that they mistook for jellyfish.

As the members worked across the beach from the Bluebird café to Sea Lane, including Patterson’s Walk and the area around the beach huts, they say they were thanked for their efforts by some of the beach users.

Group members said that discarded bagged dog faeces were still being found on the beach and they believe that people seem not to appreciate that this is still regarded in law as litter.