Devon container spill: 'Impossible task' to gather incontinence pads

The pads and nappies washed up in Devon on Tuesday

The cleanup of thousands of incontinence pads washed up on a beach is an "impossible task", a local volunteer has said.

A container washed up on Tuesday at Bucks Mills in north Devon, then Storm Aiden spread its contents for miles.

Anne-Marie Everleigh, from Plastic Free North Devon, described the pollution as "heartbreaking".

She said: "Packets of nappies as far as the eye can see and it just seems like an impossible task."

Anne-Marie Everleigh described the spread of the plastic from the spill as "heartbreaking"

Volunteers and council workers have been attempting to clean the spillage since Tuesday.

However, the contents have been spread about 13 miles (21km) from Bucks Mills to Barricane Beach north of Woolacombe by the stormy weather conditions.

The stormy weather conditions have spread the pads all over the coastline

The container fell off an unnamed ship in September alongside ten others which have either sunk or been collected after landing in Devon and Wales.

Six of them were empty and five had "non-hazardous" contents, according to the coastguard.

Croyde Beach Ranger Holly Robertson said "hours of work" had already been done by volunteers.

She said: "The nappies are starting to break up, so it's getting harder and harder as the days go on."