MORE volunteers are needed to help tidy up beaches in County Durham.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) says a lack of local volunteers for its Great British Beach Clean, from September 18 to 21, could mean the county’s beaches are being taken for granted and may result in tourists turning their backs on some of the most beautiful coastline in the UK.
The MCS beach clean event takes place every third weekend in September as part of the charity’s year round Beachwatch programme.
This year only a handful of volunteers have so far registered to clean up some of County Durham’s beaches.
Charlotte Coombes, MCS beachwatch officer, said: “All of our Great British Beach Clean events are organised by volunteers, and they need your help.
“We want to match last year’s figures and see at least 5,000 volunteers taking part nationwide - 93 of which were in County Durham in 2014.
“We’d love to see people heading to the Durham coastline and helping clean up at the events that have been organised at Blackhall Rocks (Stack South and North) and Seaton Carew.”
Each event only takes a couple of hours - and alongside the clean-up, 100 metres of beach are surveyed.
To get involved visit www.mcusk.org/beachwatch or contact 01989 566017.
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