Rubbish find surprises volunteers

A volunteer helping clear a stretch of beach at Spurn Head picked up an empty packet of KP salted peanuts amid the usual debris and recognised its design – from his youth.

Subsequent inquiries with United Biscuits, the owners of KP, by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust revealed that the packet, in surprisingly good condition, is pre-1980s; a good illustration, the trust says, of just how long plastics endure in the marine environment.

At the same time several plastic Smartie tube lids were found with Rowntree embossed on the top and a letter on the underside. Again these have been out of production for many years.

Volunteers from the trust took part in beach cleans over two days at Spurn and Flamborough, as part of the annual national event co-ordinated by the Marine Conservation Society. A total of 14 bags of rubbish, the majority of it plastics, were cleared from Flamborough.

More than 300 plastic items were recorded in a 100m stretch of beach at South Landing, ranging from plastic bags to drink bottles, food wrappers, fishing line and rope.