Residents of a west Dorset village have taken it upon themselves to clear up litter strewn across its beach.

Fourteen volunteers took to Langton Herring beach in what was ‘last-minute impromptu litter pick' on Saturday, November 25, after the recent storms saw large amounts of plastic and rubbish washed up.  

Sally Fielding, a resident of Langton Herring for 20 years helped organize the litter pick after putting a message out on a local contact group for other residents to help clear up the mess.

She said: “After all the wet and windy weather of the past few weeks a large amount of plastic rubbish had washed up on the shore of the Fleet.

Dorset Echo: Around 30 bags were filled with rubbish picked from the beachAround 30 bags were filled with rubbish picked from the beach (Image: Sally Fielding)

“It got blown over from Chesil Beach by the gales and landed up on the foreshore. As the weather this Saturday promised to be fine and dry a last-minute impromptu litter pick was organised by two residents.

“In just over an hour a group of about 14 public-spirited villagers collected over 30 bags full of litter. It was mainly plastic bottles but also a lot of industrial-size plastic containers, and polystyrene and foam probably from boats.

“The hoard completely filled the back of Michael Killoch’s car, and we must thank him for disposing of it all.”

The black bin bags were taken to a local tip to be dispensed of appropriately leaving the beach litter free.

Sally also added that litter along the beach had ‘not been too bad’ lately but it is always worse after particularly stormy weather.

Earlier this year saw the Great Dorset Beach Clean took place, an initiative spearheaded by Litter Free Dorset.

The event saw 16 beaches cleaned all the way from Lyme Regis in the west to Christchurch in the east.