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Residents and visitors to South Tyneside are being asked to play their part in helping to protect Borough beaches and coastal areas being blighted by litter.

In support of the Great British Beach Clean campaign, Â鶹ÊÓƵ and its partners at South Tyneside Homes, are celebrating the exceptional work of cleansing teams in helping the keep Borough beaches and seafront parks clean and tidy during a difficult summer season.

They are also calling on members of the public to support efforts by taking responsibility for their own litter and disposing of it safely after their trip to the coast.

Councillor Joan Atkinson, Lead Member for Area Management and Community Safety at Â鶹ÊÓƵ, said: "We take great pride in keeping our coastal area clean and tidy, and despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, our cleansing teams have continued to work tirelessly to ensure it looks its best.

"With good weather, the easing of national lockdown measures in May and schools still closed to most children at that time, scores more people flocked to the coastline as families enjoyed the outdoors. Many families have also stayed in the UK rather than going abroad this summer.

"While we know that most people dispose of their litter responsibly, there is a minority of people who don't seem to care, and the increase in visitors unfortunately did bring with it, a surge in litter along the coastline. This included PPE litter such as plastic gloves and single use face coverings.

"Discarded litter not only blights our beautiful beaches, parks and open spaces. It is illegal. It also adds to beach pollution and poses a real threat to visitors, our cleansing teams as well as wildlife and marine life, which can become entangled in it, or ingest it.

"Our cleansing teams have continued to work extremely hard in difficult circumstances, and they have done a great job. However, we need the public to support us.

"The message is simple - please help us protect our coastline by putting litter in the bins provided or taking it home. Now that our daily mechanical beach cleaning operations are coming to an end for the season, it is even more important that people do the right thing and dispose of their litter safely and responsibly. Please leave only footprints on our beaches."

For further information about helping to keep South Tyneside beaches and coastal areas clean visit /article/66382/Keeping-our-beaches-clean

The Great British Beach Clean is an annual campaign by the Marine Conservation Society and has been running this week. Litter picks originally planned locally were stood down due to restrictions on gatherings to help halt the spread of coronavirus.