The team helped to make a practical difference to the area by removing rubbish from a 100 metre stretch. The rubbish collected was also recorded, so that the main sources of the litter could be identified. MCS will use the survey results from this and hundreds of other surveys that were carried out over the same weekend, to tackle the sources of beach litter at the national level.

The three most common litter items recorded on the day were: ceramics, plastic packaging and cigarette butts. The team even uncovered a retro ‘Sony Walkman’!

East of England Tourism would like to thank Lynn Allen, Countryside Officer at Suffolk Coast and Heaths Unit for her assistance.

A team of volunteers from East of England Tourism cleaned the Pinmill area on the Orwell Estuary (nr. Ipswich, Suffolk) on the 15 September, as part of the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) annual 'Beachwatch' litter survey and clean-up.