Beaches in Scotland dirtiest in the UK

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According to the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), Scotland’s beaches continue to be the dirtiest in the UK. In its annual Beachwatch survey, more than 55,000 items of litter were found on 52 Scottish beaches.

Although the amount of litter decreased by five per cent as compared with 2008, it is still above the UK average. Sewage-related debris, in particular, was three times greater than the average level. Two rubbish-strewn beaches – Argyll’s Clynder and Helensburgh’s East Bay - raised Scotland’s average.

The survey was carried out in September by volunteers, who found that litter on UK beaches reached a record high, doubling since clean-up efforts began in 1994.

More than 13 miles of beaches in Scotland were cleared of rubbish.

In Scotland, 2,581.4 items/km were found, on average, a rate that was significantly higher than the 2,195/km UK average, but a drop of 5.37 per cent over 2007.

When figures for Clynder and East Bay are removed, the Scottish average drops to 2,219.6/km – which is still higher than the UK average.

Sewage-related debris density in Scotland was 509.1/km as compared with the UK average of 135.9/km, which was again driven upwards by Clynder and East Bay figures.

Anne Saunders, the project officer for MCS in Scotland, said: “We are calling for all countries in the UK to take action, to designate a lead body in each country to do something about this problem and work out a strategy.”

Thanks to news.bbc.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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