Syringes and shotgun shell cases were among the items collected by volunteers during a community beach clean-up in Burnham-On-Sea on Saturday (February 11th).
Over 20 helpers attended the event, organised by The Friends of Burnham Beach, with the focus of their efforts being the beach around the sailing pontoons and the River Brue estuary.
Large amounts of plastic rubbish get washed up on the high tides at this point of the beach, and many sackfuls were collected during Saturday’s event.
Burnham-On-Sea.com joined the clean-up and spoke with Mark Wakeling, pictured below, who is the local representative for Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and who described the scale of the issue.
Pictured here with a shotgun shell case, he said: “It’s a big problem. We see a lot of rubbish getting washed up here – everything from syringes and bottles, to fishing line and netting, cotton buds and tampon applicators. It affects the cleanliness of the beach and water.”
This syringe was among the ‘sharps waste’ that was safely removed by the volunteers during Saturday’s clean-up.
Organiser Mark Hollidge said the successful event was the fourth clean-up by The Friends of Burnham Beach.
“Our thanks go to everyone who came along and helped with the clean-up, particularly on such a cold winter’s day with sleet in the air.”
“There will be plenty more opportunities through the year to join further beach cleans,” he told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
Volunteers of all ages got involved in Saturday’s clean-up on Burnham-On-Sea beach and further monthly clean-ups are planned through the year.
Each of the volunteers is supplied with pickers and heavy duty sacks to help them safely remove the rubbish from along the beach.
Plastic bottles were among the large amount of beach waste collected during the clean-up.
Sackfuls of rubbish, including tyres, fishing netting and plastic crates were collected during the clean-up. Keep an eye on Burnham-On-Sea.com for the dates of the clean-ups through the year.
