HYPERDERMIC needles, broken bottles and masonry were among the rubbish collected from the dunes on Redcar beach during a spring clean.

The Friends of Redcar (FRED) spent four hours toiling away as they start their most ambitious project yet to the dunes into a safe area for children to play and adults to use.

For years the sand has been shifting, revealing piles of masonry that was buried on the dunes when it was legally used as a dumping ground.

Volunteers and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council staff started the clean up today (Friday, April 10) following months of negotiations between the group, the local authority and English Nature.

Carl Quartermain, of FRED, said: “We just want to make the area somewhere where families can come and have fun without the risk of ending up in Accident and Emergency because they have cut themselves on a broken bottle.

“We know there is a lot of work to do but we are determined to do it. Hopefully, we will be able to erect picket fencing and make some of the dunes safe for everyone to use.

“A lot of the sand was removed from the beach in the 70s and the area was used as a dumping ground from masonry and building rubbish. This is the biggest challenge we have taken on as a group but we will make it work.”

The work has to be carried out in a controlled manner as part of the area is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) attracting restrictions on its management imposed by English Nature.

For further information about the work of FRED visit www.friendsofredcar.blogspot.co.uk