PLASTIC has made up the vast majority of the rubbish collected during two beach cleans near Dunbar.

Eleven members of staff from Torness Power Station spent a day removing rubbish from both Thorntonloch and Skateraw beaches.

The activity took place during the Great British Beach Clean, a campaign run by the Marine Conservation Society.

As well as collecting rubbish, the volunteers collected data on the type of litter found.

The information will be passed on to the Marine Conservation Society to better understand the sources of marine debris on the UK’s beaches.

Eighty-six per cent of the litter found on the beaches during the clean-up was plastic, including bottles, bags and lids.

Clare Galloway, the site’s environmental lead, said: “The volunteers had a busy day collecting litter.

“It was disheartening to see how much there was, especially the amount of plastic waste, which we know is so harmful to the environment.

“We removed a significant amount of rubbish which will now be disposed of properly.

“We even went beyond the area we had agreed to survey and removed fishing tackle and traffic cones to improve the beach environment for wildlife and local people.”