A total of 45kg of waste has been collected from Irvine’s beach over two cleaning sessions as volunteers took to the shores.

With clean-ups on Sunday September 18 and Sunday September 25, each day resulted in over 20kg being cleared from Irvine’s beach.

Both days were led by the Irvine Clean Up Crew as part of the Marine Conservation Society’s Great British Beach Clean.

The group’s chairperson and co-founder, Sandra Cuthbertson Hughes, said: “The first beach clean we did we got 86kg of rubbish, so it just shows you the difference.

“Nearly three quarters of what we found was single use plastics, so I think it’s quite interesting that even with the single use plastic ban we’re still finding items that are washing up on the beach.

“The less litter that’s in the area, the less people will drop it. You know if you go to throw down a cigarette end in a pile of 200 cigarette ends nobody’s going to notice but if you throw it in a street where there’s nothing else lying it sticks out.”

Data from each clean is sent to the Marine Conservation Society for analysis and has been used to campaign for carrier bag charges and bans on single-use plastic.

Formed in 2017, the Clean Up Crew has 170 registered volunteers and operate bi-monthly beach clean-ups as well as efforts around Irvine’s streets.

Those who wish to get involved with the Clean Up Crew should email them at irvinecleanupcrew@gmail.com where they will be provided with more information and a clean-up kit. Check their Facebook page for updates.