The Evening Mail's Big Clean 2016 has investigated the hazards of beach littering after a successful beach clean was carried out as part of a nationwide campaign.

Amy Hopley, a marine trainee as South Walney Nature Reserve invited volunteers to help her clean up our beaches. She wanted to help tidy large quantities of plastic out of our sea and into waste processing, where it can be sorted for recycling.

This clean, which took place on Sunday September 18 at West Shore beach, Walney, was organised as part of the Great British Beach clean, an event in which tons of rubbish were lifted from our beaches over a single weekend.

Miss Hopley's fellow marine trainee, Hayden Hurst, 23, who lives at South Walney Nature Reserve, explained the dire risks that litter on the beaches poses to some of our favourite creatures. He said: "The litter we want to target primarily is the plastic and man made litter which cannot be broken down or digested by any natural bacteria.

"We have had reports recently about a seal who had got his head stuck in plastic piping which had been discarded and it is very common for seals to get trapped by carelessly discarded litter like that.

"Plastic that is discarded on the beach then makes its way in to the sea and become a risk to leather back turtles.

"We are very lucky to have the majestic leather back turtles visiting our coast during the jellyfish booms in the summer months. Unfortunately things like plastic bags can look very similar to jellyfish and due to the nature of the turtles' spiny teeth, once they ingest a plastic bag, they cannot regurgitate it and can often die from choking."

The recent breakthrough in the banning of micro beads has come as very welcome news to Miss Hopley and Mr Hurst, who understand better than most about the dangers of bio-accumulation.

Mr Hurst said: "So many toiletries and cosmetics that people throw away have these tiny micro beads in them which are broken right down and then ingested by plankton.

"The plankton are then eaten by bigger fish and creatures and make their way through the food chain."

The team of nature reserve volunteers collected a great deal of litter and are now compiling it for analysis as part of the Marine Conservation Society's Great British Beach Clean initiative.