Blue Planet II 'helps boost beach clean numbers'

The volunteers spent two hours picking up litter from a 100m stretch of Sand Bay, near Weston

Some 200 volunteers have helped clean Sand Bay in North Somerset as part of the Marine Conservation Society's annual beach clean.

Litter was collected over a 100m stretch of beach before being sorted and recorded for the society's records.

Charlotte Coombes, from the society, said since the TV programme Blue Planet II aired in 2017 there had been an "upsurge" in people wanting to help.

"A few years ago 30 people turned up and now we have 200," said Ms Coombes.

The collected litter is sorted and recycled where possible

All the litter was collected in reusable garden bags.

The data from the beach clean is added to the society's litter database and is sent to central government to help affect change, the society said.

In 2018 the society said it recorded 600 items of litter every 100 metres.