Dumped carrier bags on Sunderland beaches (From The Northern Echo)

Dumped carrier bags on Sunderland beaches

4:21pm Wednesday 25th January 2012 in Tyne and Wear News

WASTE crime officers from the Environment Agency are appealing for information after dumped carrier bags have affected part of the Sunderland coastline.

The plastic carrier bags, from various supermarkets and shops, have been deliberately cut into strips and disposed of illegally at both Roker and Whitburn beaches in Sunderland.

Dave Edwardson, environmental crime team leader for the Environment Agency, said: "We are looking for information to help us track down whoever is dumping these plastic bags illegally. "Sunderland Council put in a lot of hard work to keep the beaches clean but we need to find the people responsible to stop them being dumped and affecting the local coastline.

"We have been investigating potential sources including local foul and surface water sewers, waste plastics operators, the local supermarket, the port and marina for any activity but have yet to find the people responsible."

Mr Edwardson said that a flytipper might be responsible for the waste or alternatively the plastic could have been dumped from a ship.

His team also wants to hear from anyone who knows a business reason why the plastic bags would be cut up into strips.

As well as being unsightly, the cut up bags are a potential hazard to coastal wildlife.

Anyone with information about the incidents at Sunderland should report it by either contacting the Environment Agency’s 24 hour hotline 0800-80-70-60 or by calling crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.