'Frustration' after beach clean-ups fill 700 bags

Volunteers filled hundreds of bags with rubbish and found items including tyres and shopping trolleys

Volunteers filled more than 700 bags with rubbish during a three-month clean up of North East beaches.

More than 45 litter picks were organised by Durham Wildlife Trust and conservation scheme Seascapes at sites in Teesside, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

As well as a 15-year-old crisp packet, the haul of waste included shopping trolleys, discarded fishing gear, ropes, tyres and lobster pot cages.

The trust said it was "frustrating" that so much waste was clogging up beaches but it had been delighted to recruit 600 volunteers.

More than 45 clean-up events were organised in North East England

Volunteers were recruited from schools, colleges, universities, women's institute groups and businesses.

The trust's support assistant Caitlin Elwin said: "Around half the UK’s wildlife lives in the sea.

"If this litter wasn't collected, it would end up back in the sea and potentially cause injury or even death to marine mammals, birds and other wildlife."

The wildlife trust said discarded ropes and fishing gear posed a threat of injury to marine life

Volunteers said mounds of plastic collected between June and August filled 708 bags.

A spokeswoman for Seascapes said the rubbish was discarded by beach visitors, but was also washed up by high tides or storms.

She said: "Reducing litter pollution and its effect on marine life and the wider environment is hugely rewarding.

"It’s great to see people joining a clean on the spur of the moment, especially if they have strong arms which are great for moving bags to the collection point which is quite often at the top of some steep stairs."

Beaches blitzed included Red Acre near Seaham, County Durham and Sandhaven in South Shields.

More than 600 volunteers filled hundreds of bags with rubbish during the three-month operation