FISHING wire, odd socks and Lego figurines were among the pieces of litter picked up at a mass beach clean over the weekend.

Volunteers across the North-East stepped up to take part in a large-scale annual event organised by the Marine Conservation Society.

The clean-up, named the Great British Beach Clean, occurred over three days at beaches up and down the UK.

Between Friday, September 14 and Sunday, September 16, there were 16 volunteer-led events in the region organised on behalf of the charity – stretching from Seaham, Peterlee and Seaton Carew to Saltburn, Redcar and Whitby.

On Saturday, one clean-up saw around 30 volunteers of all ages flock to Terrace Beach in Seaham.

Within one hour and a half the litter-pickers had filled 18 bags of rubbish.

The assortment of items included an eroded golf ball, bits of rubber tyre, fishing wire, odd socks and the head of a Lego person.

Motivated by the current fight against plastic pollution, volunteer Ann Smith, 58, said she was surprised at what she found during the clean-up.

She said: “You look at the beach to start with and think it looks pretty clean, but as soon as you get a little bit under the surface you start to find all kinds of things that you really wouldn’t expect to find on a beach.”

The clean-up at Terrace Beach was organised by Louise Harrison who works for The Heritage Coast Partnership.

She organised three beach cleans over the weekend at Crimdon Beach, Terrace Beach and Seaham hall.

She said: “The Great British Beach Clean has been running for 25 years and it gets local people involved in cleaning their local beaches.

“We found a lot of washed up fishing material which is really bad for wildlife. Birds get their feet stuck in it, fish get it wrapped around their necks and it’s really bad for seals.

“As well as that we also carry out a survey of the beach to give the Marine Conservation Society a snapshot of the kind of litter that people are finding.”