A beach clean organised by Dawlish Against Plastic removed nearly 40kg of waste from the seashore on Saturday, October 17.

The rubbish collected included a rope weighing 16.8kg on its own, and there were also some items that could not be moved at the time.

Vanesa Ryley of Dawlish Against Plastic said: "Beach cleaning is very different to litter picking.

"People imagine that they will find things that people have recently dropped on visits to the beach and that it's not worth doing in the winter as there won't be much to pick up. This is very far from the truth."

Microplastics

"On Saturday we picked up 37.98kgs of rubbish. We were unable to shift the tyres which will unfortunately be gradually leaching microplastics into the sea as they are constantly pounded.

"There was also a broken boat windscreen which could not be taken for weighing, although it was taken off the beach to beside the nearest bin. The council have now removed it.

"Generally, when the seas are rough and seaweed is brought in to the shore, it hides thousands of smaller pieces of plastic which have gradually been broken up by the motion of the sea, plus almost unrecognisable drink cans, pieces of fishing line and scraps of fabric.

"A recent addition in the Dawlish area are many pieces of black, rubbery foam which have been used between the sections of the wall. These are gradually being washed out to sea and subsequently ending up on the shore, but can also be seen sticking out from the sea side of the wall in many places."

Borrow the equipment for your own beach clean

Because of the difficulties of organising large beach cleans while Covid-19 restrictions are in force, Dawlish Against Plastic are encouraging people to undertake their own sessions in small groups under the 'rule of six'.

They have started a Beach Clean Club whose members can borrow all the necessary equipment for as long as they like, for a deposit of just £5.

Litter pickers, gloves, high-viz tabards and bag hoops will be provided, so long as the lead member of each Beach Club group agrees to abide with a new risk assessment that takes Covid-19 into account.

Beach Club members are also asked to make sure they know the contact details of everyone in their group, for tracking and tracing purposes.

Dawlish Against Plastic was formed in March 2018. Since then it has worked with the town council and local businesses to reduce single-use plastic, given presentations to schools, and promoted its environmental message at community events, as well as organising the regular beach cleans.

Dawlish was officially recognised as a 'plastic free community' by Surfers Against Sewage in February 2019.