THERE was a mountain of rubbish piled up when the volunteers finished their clean up – and all of it had been littering a picturesque stretch of shore.
THERE was a mountain of rubbish piled up when the volunteers finished their clean up – and all of it had been littering a picturesque stretch of shore.
The team of around 30 volunteers who gave up their morning to collect the litter disfiguring Trimley foreshore filled 50 black bags of junk.
Most of it appeared to have been dumped by ships, some of it brought by the tides from many miles away.
"Everyone worked tremendously hard – it was an excellent effort and I just want to thank all those who came along and joined in," said parish councillor Keith Slaughter, one of the organisers of the litter pick.
"We worked all morning and hopefully the impact we have made will mean that we will only need to do short regular clean-ups in future to keep it as it is now.
"It is a lovely beach and we want to keep it that way and I have all the details of the volunteers so that working parties can be arranged when needed.
"A lot of the rubbish appeared to have come from ships, just thrown overboard. There was a lot of plastic drinks bottles in various states of decay, not quite so much glass as we have seen in the past, but quite a few tin cans.
"But there were also bigger items such as five gallon oil drums and a huge rusty old tank from a boat."
He also thanked farmer Nigel Smith who used a tractor to ferry the rubbish to and from the River Orwell foreshore at the end off a footpath leading from Thorpe Lane in Trimley St Martin.
Mr Slaughter said a new group, Trimley St Martin AW Rivercare, had been formed from the volunteers with the support of environmental campaign group EnCams to look after the beach for the future. Andrew Walters, of EnCams had given excellent help in providing equipment and helping to organise the event.
Trimley foreshore is a popular beach in spring and summer, used by hundreds of villagers to relax and play.
WEBLINK: www.encams.org
N What do you think? Is litter a problem where you are? Write in to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk or visit the forum at www.eveningstar.co.uk
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