Clean-Up of Margate Beach

23 July 2010, 07:27 | Updated: 23 July 2010, 08:23

Volunteers are cleaning-up litter from the Main Sands at Margate so it doesn't impact on tourism this summer.

The beach has a prestigious Blue Flag to recognise its cleanliness and facilities and is one of the most continuously monitored in the country.

Dr. Sue Kinsey from the Marine Conservation Society said: “We really appreciate the help of volunteers to help us regularly monitor the state of our beaches and help to do something about it. We are only too pleased to be able to bring DEFRA volunteers in to help them with this beach clean.”

Cllr. Martin Wise, Cabinet Member for Commercial Services, said: “Thanet’s beaches have recently been awarded nine Blue Flags for their excellent water quality, facilities and environmental initiatives, but beach litter is an issue that we all need to try to help reduce. The Marine Conservation Society has set the national standard of monitoring beach litter nationally. This helps us to identify the source and trend of beach litter, so that we can promote ways of trying to reduce it. Beach litter is unsightly and bad for tourism, but it’s also a problem for our local wildlife, which may die if they get caught up in discarded litter or if they mistake it for food.”

The Thanet Coast Project can assist local groups that would like to help run their own beach clean.

The project also runs public cleans every spring and autumn in the Birchington and Pegwell Bay areas, and links up with the Marine Conservation Society’s national ‘Beachwatch’ campaign to monitor and tackle beach litter on the third weekend in September each year.