More litter on South West beaches

Beach visitors are urged to take their rubbish home

Beaches in the South West are getting dirtier, according to a report published on Tuesday.

The nationwide BeachWatch 2004 survey found that the levels of rubbish left by visitors to beaches in the South west were the highest in the UK.

The area was found to have twice as much litter as 2003.

More than 65,000 litres of rubbish were collected over a two-day period in September 2004 - which is one piece of rubbish every 23cms of beach.

On 18 and 19 September, more than 3,000 volunteers helped to clean and survey a total of 135 km of UK coastline on 269 beaches.

Andrea Crump, from the Marine Conservation Society, said: "This year more beaches were cleaned and surveyed than during any other Beachwatch survey.

"An amazing 3,093 volunteers took part in Beachwatch 2004. This indicates a high level of public concern about the impacts of litter on our beaches."