BURNHAM residents are being encouraged to get stuck in for this year's Great British Beach Clean.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), is looking for volunteers to register for a trip to the beach, which will help spruce up the coastal environment and record the litter finds as part of a global beach clean count.

The Great British Beach Clean take place on beaches across the UK between September 16-19.

“Beach litter has steadily risen over the two decades we’ve been recording it on UK beaches. In fact we saw some of the highest litter levels ever last year with 3,298 items picked up per kilometre we surveyed,” said MCS Beachwatch Manager, Lauren Eyles.

“Last year’s Great British Beach Clean attracted 6,035 volunteers cleaning 340 beaches - the most in our 22 year history of running clean-ups.”

In 2015 tiny bits of plastic and polystyrene were the most frequently found litter items on UK beaches. There was a 34 per cent rise in beach litter between 2014 and 2015 with a big percentage rise in most drinks containers found on beaches.

Plastic drinks bottles increased by more than 41 per cent, metal drinks cans by almost 29 per cent, and - drinks container caps and lids were up by over 41 per cent. Only glass bottles went down and that was only by less than 1 per cent.

“Taking part in the Great British Beach Clean really can make a difference. In previous years when we’ve highlighted increases in dog poo bags and sewage related debris found on beaches we’ve seen drops in numbers subsequently.

MCS says cleaning and surveying a beach only takes a couple of hours at most. Each beach has a coordinator, who explains how to fill in a simple data form, and then it’s just a case of grabbing a litter picker and a bin bag and filling it up with rubbish.

Find out more at http://www.mcsuk.org/greatbritishbeachclean or telephone 01989 566017.