Smoking Bournemouth beachgoers given seaweed paper ashtrays

Emma Teasdale, of Litter Free Dorset, said she would rather see cigarettes safely disposed of in the bin than left on the beach

Ashtrays made of seaweed paper are being handed to beachgoers in an effort to reduce seaside littering.

It comes after 48,000 cigarette butts were found in just one month on beaches in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council area.

The project is being run by campaigners Litter Free Dorset, which is hosting pop-up events.

Litter Free Dorset said greater knowledge was still needed about the damaging impact of dropping cigarettes.

The beach butt holders can be folded up and disposed of safely in the bin after being folded over

Emma Teasdale, a coordinator for the group, said: "Cigarette butts contain micro plastics and leach toxins such as formaldehyde, nicotine, arsenic, lead, mercury, and chromium into the ground and our waterways."

The butt holders are portable ashtrays printed on paper designed to help reduce the number of cigarettes stubbed straight into the sand.

They are created from seaweed and plants that disappear naturally to reduce plastic waste.

Ms Teasdale explained that smokers just need to put a small amount of sand in the bottom of the holder and stub out the cigarette butt before standing the holder up in the sand until they are ready to leave.

The paper can then be folded over and put in the bin.

The group has been holding pop-up events at beaches in the BCP Council area

The free ashtrays will also be distributed this summer by RNLI lifeguards on the beach and at BCP Council beachfront catering outlets.

Andrew Brown, BCP council seafront operations manager, said: "Our hardworking seafront team goes out in the early hours of every morning to ensure our beaches are safe and clean, often collecting many tonnes of waste from the beach."

Litter Free Dorset was set to host pop-up beach events at 19:00 BST at Branksome Chine Beach and Whitley Lake.