Beach cleaners have called for residents and visitors to cut down on plastic usage to help protect the environment.

Members of the Waterhead Creek Preservation Society collected multiple large bags of rubbish from their annual spring beach clean last week, over a two hour period.

They have been looking after the Kingswear coastline for over four years.

Sue Pudduck, a member of the WCPS, noticed a change in the litter left along the creek, which situated a short distance from the harbour. Previous cleans have found old rope and fishing tackle, but this year the group collected lots of small pieces of plastic, such as crisp packets, sweet wrappers, drinks bottles and very small polystyrene beads which have leaked from pontoons.

She said: “Possibly, people are becoming more aware that if bits of old rope and fishing tackle are left lying around, they will end up producing pollution in the sea and in the river, causing a hazard to wild life.

“It is in everybody’s interest to regularly check landing stages and pontoons to make sure they are in good condition.”

The group has become more concerned after their recent finds, as Waterhead creek is just one of many waterways in the South Hams, with other, busier locations likely to be in worse condition.

Sue says it’s an indication of how vital the issue of pollution is: “We may not all want to go to Westminster to highlight our environmental concerns, but we can all do much more to cut down our use of plastics.”