A supermarket created out of plastic collected from Brighton and Hove’s beach has caught international attention.

The Dirty Beach supermarket-come-art exhibition features a mock shop made from pieces of plastic collected from the city’s beach.

The installation was launched at Brighton’s ONCA Gallery on November 14 with the aim of encouraging more sustainable use and recycling of plastic.

However, since going on display to the public, the supermarket’s creators have been invited by 5 Gyres, an environmental non-governmental organization, to New Orleans next year to create a similar exhibition from plastic recovered from the Mississippi River.

Lou McCurdy, who created Dirty Beach with Chloe Hanks, said the pair had also been asked to exhibit the supermarket at a National Trust visitor centre in Eastbourne and at the University of Plymouth.

Lou said: “It’s been amazing. We have had more visitors to the installation in the first day we opened than any other single day at any other exhibition at ONCA Gallery and people can’t quite make out whether we are a real supermarket until they enter.

“The shelves are brimming with water bottles, juice bottles, milk cartons, cleaning products and a massive plastic fragment pick and mix range.

“We are keen to engage people in the environmental issues and impacts of single use plastic as it all seems to all end up in the sea.”

Lou said Britain only recovers around 5% of plastic produced, with some 50% going to landfill.

The rest, she claims, is unaccounted for and is “ultimately washed out to sea”.

With partner Chloe, Lou spent three weeks collecting beach plastic from Birling Gap to Shoreham, going through five bags and 11 hours of cleaning in the process.

Lou added: “We had an amazing turnout for out Rubbish Talk at the Sallis Benney Theatre on Monday night with an inspiring panel of speakers.

“Dirty Beach is going on tour to Plymouth, New Orleans and so on but we want people to know this project started in Brighton.”

A Dirty Beach fundraiser for the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) takes place at The Blind Tiger club in Grand Parade, Brighton, on December 17 from 4pm with DJs, stalls and more.

Entry is £5, which goes to the MCS.