A MAJOR drive to clean Britain's beaches of waste will be carried out in April.

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and Ecover have joined together for the Big Spring Beach Clean which takes place between April 3 and 9.

The aim is to help clean up beaches nationwide and recycle more than 50,000 plastic bottles as part of the Ecover Ocean Plastic Bottle Project.

Surfers Against Sewage and Ecover hope more than 10,000 volunteers will take part in hundreds of community events across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Northern Echo:

Marine plastic pollution is Surfers Against Sewage’s priority issue and the charity has joined forces with Ecover, who have pioneered the use of reclaimed marine plastic in their limited edition Ocean Plastic Bottle since 2014.

Communities across the UK have already registered hundreds of community beach clean events, with individuals, schools, fellow NGOs, community groups and businesses stepping forward.

SAS Projects Manager, Dom Ferris says: “Since 2010 thousands of Big Spring Beach Clean volunteers have helped remove a colossal 108 tonnes of marine litter, an incredible achievement which has made our coastlines cleaner, healthier and happier.

"However, despite this it is clear that this plastic pollution crisis cannot be solved through beach cleans alone, we must look far ‘beyond the beach clean’ to create and promote solutions that will stem the ever rising tide of plastic washing into our ocean." 

  • If you are interested email beachcleans@sas.org.uk or call 01872-553001 and register your beach. All lead volunteers will receive a Big Spring Beach Clean pack.