Fighting the tide of litter on our beaches

From the archive, first published Monday 23rd Apr 2007.

DAYTRIPPERS are being encouraged to clean up their rubbish after new figures revealed litter on Britain's beaches increased by 90 per cent since 1994.

People dropping litter and items flushed down toilets account for the majority of rubbish found during the Beachwatch survey by the Marine Conservation Society.

A total of 1,988 items of litter were found per kilometre of beach in 2006, compared with 1,045 items in 1994.

Donna-Marie Adams, head of conservation at Sealife Adventure, in Southend, organises a number of clean-ups at Thorpe Bay beach each year and sends the data to the Marine Conservation Society.

She said: "We have always had problems with cotton buds washing up. That is a major problem on Thorpe Bay beach.

"Syringes are a problem, too. We also get crisp packets, sweet wrappers, carrier bags and bottles."

Emma Snowden, Marine Conservation Society litter projects co-ordinator said: "Cotton bud sticks and other debris on our beaches are not just unsightly to look at - often they are made of plastic which persists in the marine environment for many years.

"This should be such an easy environmental issue to resolve and yet the message is still not getting across for whatever reason."

However, Ann Holland, Southend councillor responsible for leisure, said she felt proud of the town's beaches, especially the seven which have recently won Quality Coast Awards.

These include Thorpe Bay beach as well as Jubilee Beach, in Southend, and Bell Wharf Beach, in Leigh, which were commended as ideal places for sandcastle building and paddling.

Mrs Holland said: "We do need to raise awareness of the need for people to be sensible and to make sure they don't leave things behind when they leave our beaches.

"There are enough bins around the area, so there is no reason for litter to be dropped on the floor.

"We have a beach cleaning scheme but when we get better weather, we do get far more people down there.

"The thing is to educate them to take everything home and help each other out."