Storm Eleanor has left British beaches littered with waste scooped up from the seabed by the waves.
Martin Dorey, of campaign group #2minutebeachclean, said it was a ‘tidal wave of waste’ and removing it would be a mammoth task.
The effects of the storm and the waste it brought ashore are visible on some of the most popular beaches in Cornwall.
Millions of pieces of plastic litter Penhale Sands Beach in Cornwall following Storm Eleanor and a run of northerly winds
Martin Dorey, of campaign group #2minutebeachclean, said it was a ‘tidal wave of waste’ and removing it would be a mammoth task including at Penhale Sands, pictured
The effects of the storm and the waste it brought ashore are visible on some of the most popular beaches in Cornwall including those in Newquay. Pictured: Plastic on Penhale Sands
Martin Dorey, of campaign group #2minutebeachclean, said locals, dog walkers and surfers turned up and spontaneously cleared Crooklets beach of plastic after storm Eleanor. Pictured: Waste on Penhale Sands
Constantine Bay, Crooklets and Newquay are some of the beaches affected.
Mr Dorey said locals, dog walkers and surfers turned up and spontaneously cleared Crooklets beach of plastic after storm Eleanor.
Storm Eleanor brought winds of up to 100mph when it hit the UK coast last week.
The churning of the sea brought long-dormant piles of waste from the seabed to the surface, said Richard Thompson, professor of marine biology at Plymouth University.
‘There are considerable accumulations of waste on the seabed, out of sight and out of mind until it is stirred up by storms,’ he said.
‘A big storm brings it all back to shore. This kind of rubbish is just not going to go away.’
The churning of the sea brought long-dormant piles of waste from the seabed to the surface, said Richard Thompson, professor of marine biology at Plymouth University. Pictured: Waste on Penhale Sands
In many resorts, volunteers are already clearing up the mess. In Constantine Bay, a beach clean is taking place on 10 January. Pictured: Waste on Penhale Sands
‘It was just horrendous,’ said Mr Dorey, who encourages beach visitors to spend just two minutes picking up rubbish in an effort to spread the load. Pictured: Plastic on Penhale Sands
The effects of Storm Eleanor and the waste it brought ashore are visible on some of the most popular beaches in Cornwall, including in Newquay
In many resorts, volunteers are already clearing up the mess. In Constantine Bay, a beach clean is taking place on 10 January.
Martin Dorey said Crooklets beach at Bude had been ‘as bad as I have seen it’ until it was cleared up by local volunteers.
‘It was just horrendous,’ said Mr Dorey, who encourages beach visitors to spend just two minutes picking up rubbish in an effort to spread the load.
‘It’s fun and healthy and you can time yourself to see how much litter you can pick up in two minutes.’
A clean up in Brixham, Devon, where 11 divers and more than 100 volunteers also gathered nearly a tonne of rubbish both submerged and on land.
Theresa May backs beach clean-ups saying the Government will do all it can to stop ‘eight million tonnes of plastic making its way into the sea’
The Prime Minister’s backing comes a month after fishermen found a porbeagle shark wounded by plastic that had cut into its belly and fins off St Ives, down the coast from Bude
Theresa May has backed plans for beach clean-ups to rid the environment of the scourge of plastic waste.
The Prime Minister wrote on Twitter of her support for community projects ahead of a major speech on the environment next week.
She said: ‘Eight million tonnes of plastic makes its way into the world’s seas and oceans each year – our Government will do all it can to play its part in stopping this.
‘The work of @BudeCleanerSeas is vital to that ambition. Do follow and support their work.’ The Bude Cleaner Seas Project is a community group which says it is working to give the Cornish seaside town ‘the cleanest water quality and the cleanest beaches’ in the county.
Scott Mann, the Tory MP for North Cornwall, said he was ‘thrilled’ to have the Prime Minister’s support for the project.
‘We’ve seen a very different approach from Defra recently to environmental issues which is important and welcome,’ he said.
‘It’s great that the Prime Minister has brought this focus on environment issues to the public’s attention.
‘I am thrilled that she has supported this local group. We want to see beach cleanliness at the centre of post-Brexit plans.’
The Prime Minister’s backing comes a month after fishermen found a porbeagle shark wounded by plastic that had cut into its belly and fins off St Ives, down the coast from Bude.
The Prime Minister wrote on Twitter of her support for community projects ahead of a major speech on the environment next week
She said: ‘Eight million tonnes of plastic makes its way into the world’s seas and oceans each year – our Government will do all it can to play its part in stopping this.
The Conservatives, who want to be known as the ‘caring party’, have put the environment at the heart of a rebranding exercise.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove has seized on the strategy and has announced a series of new policies, including increasing jail terms for animal cruelty.
He has also pledged to bring in new national rules to end the postcode lottery on recycling, and he is considering a radical four-point plan to force councils to use common guidelines to make recycling less confusing. Tackling plastic waste in the oceans has become the centrepiece of Mr Gove’s plans and he has described being affected by scenes in the BBC’s Blue Planet II.
Bude Cleaner Seas Project, which is supported by Volunteer Cornwall, the Environment Agency and South West Water, was unavailable for comment.