A community-spirited local family has carried out a beach clean in Burnham-On-Sea, collecting several sacks of litter.
Victoria Nixon and Kiki, 13; Jennifer, 10; Karenza, 8; and Lizzi, 7, undertook the clean-up and were shocked at the amount of litter they collected.
Victoria says: “We were thinking of things to do over the half term holiday and while walking our dogs one evening, two of our girls remarked on how much rubbish we were having to tell the dogs to drop or leave as we made our way along the beach.”
“As one of the requests was a trip to a dessert bar we suggested maybe collecting rubbish to earn the treat in much the same way they do chores to earn pocket money.”
“We used litter pickers and made our way up to the beach, collecting rubbish as we went and then down to Maddocks Slade, up Seaview Road, into Marine Cove gardens then along the Esplanade.”
“All in all it was two miles covered and we collected three bags of rubbish including a burnt traffic cone, a smashed bottle of Harvey’s Bristol Cream and about 20 plastic bottles, plus empty alcohol cans, plastic shards and cigarette ends.”
She adds: “People were lovely as we walked as the girls chatted with people who kindly asked what they were doing and why, with some helpful people pointing out pockets of litter the wind had blown along.”
“The chat along the way was centred around why we have so many bins along the seafront yet people still drop rubbish. If the bin is full, why not take your rubbish home rather than letting it be blown into our sea or lovely town centre streets?”
“If people want to take their kids out and pick litter anywhere (kids really seem to love it!) or if they want to organise a regular group, they can contact Sedgemoor District Council who will loan the equipment and are happy to support and promote positive community action by groups or individuals across Sedgemoor.”
