Lynemouth industrial beach rubbish clean-up to start this year

Items dumped at Lynemouth many years ago are now visible

Clean-up work costing £5m to rid a beach of "historical pollution" - including mining pipes, cables and machinery - will start later this year.

The items have been exposed as waves wash away parts of cliffs at Lynemouth at an ex-colliery landfill site.

Northumberland County Council has allocated the money to stop waste deposits from washing into the sea.

In 2020 the authority said tests on beach samples had revealed some waste could be harmful to humans.

Planning and regulatory consents have also been received to allow the project to go ahead.

It had been hoped the clean-up work would be carried out sooner but the authority said weather and environmental constraints had affected the start date.

Pipes and cables are a common sight on Lynemouth Beach

The council said preparatory work would start on the beach in autumn, with the main work starting next year.

It will see contaminated areas of the beach excavated and removed before the dunes are reformed with a mix of earth and sand.

Northumberland Council cabinet member John Riddle said: "While we would like to have started earlier, many factors were outside our control.

"The new timeline also enables us to finalise details and funding arrangements with the Coal Authority over the works needed on their land to the north of the Lyneburn so we can do this as a single 'integrated' scheme, securing best value and delivering the best outcomes for the local environment and the communities in this part of Northumberland."

Before the work starts, council teams will continue to remove material from the beach found in weekly inspections.