An army of around 200 volunteers equipped with litter pickers and bin bags took part in the Big Beach Clean-Up yesterday morning.

The aim was to collect as much waste as possible that had been left on our beautiful beach over the weekend, sending a message to residents and tourists alike to Take It Home.

And the early start proved lucrative after volunteers collected half a tonne of rubbish in just one hour – enough to half fill one of the cage-sided Cityclean vehicles.

Everyone was given the equipment they needed to carry out the clean-up, including around 130 litter picking tools issued.

But such was the event’s popularity, the litter picking tools ran out – meaning some committed volunteers had to collect the rubbish wearing safety gloves instead.

Major corporations, independent businesses, charities, politicians and members of the public showed their commitment to the campaign by collecting anything from nappies, cigarette butts and beer bottles to old barbecues, toys and plastic bags.

And after the last couple of weeks, setting an example about how we want to keep our beach was most important.

Tens of thousands of people are believed to have visited the beach since the start of the hot weather period this month, while the Visit- Brighton website has had more than 130,000 unique hits since the beginning of July.

In addition, it estimated that the city catered for more than 50,000 visitors over the last two weekends – who left up to 21 tonnes of rubbish behind them.

Apart from ruining a tourist hotspot, the rubbish also threatens wildlife.

Staff from the Sea Life Centre specifically warned against leaving plastic bags near the sea over fears they could affect migrating turtle populations which may mistake them for jellyfish.

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Jason Kitcat, leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, below, praised the number of volunteers who graced the famous shingle yesterday morning.

Armed with gloves, a litter picker and a rubbish bag, he said: “It’s impressive and is evidently a really worthwhile campaign.

“I’ve said many times before that the seafront is our city’s shop window and it’s one of the biggest attractions for tourists.

“We must do our best to preserve it.”

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Asked whether fines for litterbugs would be a viable option in the future, he said: “It is an option, but the fines would come from council officers and not the police, so the first obstacle would be obtaining a person’s name and address in order to hand out the penalty.

“What we’ve found most of the time in similar circumstances is that it proves difficult.

Not many people want to willingly give you their details for a fine.

“Secondly, do we want visitors to our city being greeted with threatening warning signs around the place? I’m not so sure it’s a good message.”

Now, after a successful Big Beach Clean-Up on Brighton and Hove beach, plans are being considered to spread the campaign further across Sussex.

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Michael Beard, Editor of The Argus, thanked the volunteers and businesses who took part in yesterday’s action.

Mr Beard, pictured right, said: “The response was overwhelming, which goes to show how important the issue is.

“We had emails from people in Seaford, Newhaven and elsewhere all wanting to get involved.

“This has been such a success I see no reason why we shouldn’t continue to carry out clean-up operations, not just in Brighton but across Sussex.

“I’d like to personally thank everyone involved for their efforts.”

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