Plastic cutlery blights beaches as charity calls for single-use levy

PLASTIC knives and forks are polluting Britain’s beaches as part of a rubbish blight that has grown 10 per cent worse in the past year, a report has revealed.

The annual Great British Beach Clean found plastic food and drink items now make up one in five pieces of litter.

The volunteer exercise, led by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), found an average of 138 pieces of food and drink-related waste on every 100m (320ft) of beach. The amount of litter found was up 10 per cent on 2016, with an average of 718 pieces of rubbish on every 100m of beach.

There has been a 27 per cent increase in plastic or polystyrene items found on beaches since 2008, with small pieces up 11 per cent on 2016 and 38per cent in the decade, the MCS said.

The charity has called on the Government to introduce a levy on single-use plastic items, such as cutlery, straws, cups and lids, similar to the 5p plastic bag levy, which it said has had a significant benefit for marine conservation.