A staggering amount of litter has been cleaned from Formby beach thanks to local Marine Conservation

A team of local Marine Conservation Society (MCS) volunteers have helped clean 20 bags of rubbish from Cabin Hill NNR, Formby on Friday 18 th of January. The event was part of the charity’s Beachwatch project. Led by Andy Laverick, the 15 volunteers collected and recorded the rubbish along a 200 metre stretch of beach. The data will help MCS identify the main sources of litter on Cabin Hill NNR beach, Formby and keep the issue of the dangers of marine litter high on the local agenda.

The beach litter survey recorded a staggering 220 kg of waste; this includes 503 separate items of plastic. Included in the above total were the figures shown below:

106 Packets: Crisp / sweet / lolly (inc sticks) / sandwich 80 Caps / lids 36 Plastic / polystyrene pieces: 0 - 2.5 cm

The 15 volunteer’s battled arctic blizzard type conditions to achieve this figure in one hour on the beach. Massive thanks must go to all volunteers involved and Barry Smith (Natural England Reserve Manger.

Andy Laverick says these beaches clean are vital: “Beach litter isn’t just unsightly; it can also be very dangerous to both humans and wildlife. MCS is working towards ensuring local communities right up to UK governments work together to try and stop littering at source. If you would like to get involved in future events, then please contact greatbritishbeachcleanformby@yahoo.com