Volunteers hit the beaches to clean up

An army of volunteer water workers have blitzed a number of North East beaches – collecting countless bags of rubbish.

More than 200 Northumbrian Water volunteers rolled their sleeves up to muck in and donated over 1,000 hours over two weeks, through the company’s employee volunteering scheme, Just an Hour - to help reduce the amount of litter entering our seas.

A car tyre and pink toy flute at Seaton Carew, and a toothbrush at Seaham were among some of the stranger pieces of litter collected.

The community effort took place in support of World Oceans Day on Tuesday, June 8 and The Great British Spring Clean - between Friday, May 28 and Sunday, June 13.

Simon Cyhanko, head of wastewater networks at Northumbrian Water, and a participant in one of the 17 beach cleans, said: “We are really proud to support our local communities, through our employee volunteering scheme – Just an Hour, and help improve the environment in this way.

“It’s really rewarding for us to give something back and help make a difference – and to do this in collaboration with some of our amazing partners.

“We certainly collected some strange things during our beach cleans – and some common items too, like dog poo bags, lolly sticks, face masks, plastic bottles and lots of cigarette butts.

“We can all do our bit to keep our beaches and bathing waters as pristine as we possibly can, and you can do that by putting rubbish in a bin or taking it home with you.”