THE amount of litter on the Westcountry’s beaches has leapt by nearly 50 per cent in the past year – despite a high-profile campaign to outlaw carrier bags.

The Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch 2008 survey recorded and removed 81,115 items of rubbish, including fishing nets, plastic bags, cigarette butts and cotton bud sticks from 56 beaches across the South West, mainly in Devon and Cornwall.

This represents almost five bits of junk on every metre-stretch of supposedly golden sand in the South West.

In 2007, beach cleaners found more than three pieces of rubbish per metre – which represents an increase of 48.1 per cent between then and now.

Once again, more litter was dumped on the Westcountry’s beaches than anywhere else in the UK, the survey revealed.

Emma Snowden, MCS litter projects coordinator, said: “Whether you live near the coast or miles inland, we are all connected to the sea. This is a man-made problem.  Every piece of litter has an owner and we all need to take responsibility to not drop litter in the first place. 

“MCS wants to see zero waste on Britain’s beaches and our first goal is to halve the litter on Britain’s beaches by 2015, but in order to achieve this we need to appoint lead agencies with the specific responsibility to stop marine litter and develop a marine action plan now.”

Experts believe the peninsula’s exposure to strong ocean currents and the annual influx of millions of tourists explains why litter pollution on South West beaches outstrips the rest of the country.

As well as spoiling the appearance of beaches, harming the region’s vital tourism industry and costing local authorities millions of pounds to clean up every year, the MCS said littering had potentially fatal effects on seals, turtles and seabirds that live off the region’s coastlines.

It believes more than 170 species of wildlife have been known to mistake litter for food, which can lead to starvation, poisoning and fatal stomach blockages.

Awareness of the dangers of plastic was heightened in 2006 when the town of Modbury in South Devon launched a boycott of carrier bags. The Prime Minister and supermarkets heaped praise on the Westcountry town, while scores of communities and Devon, Cornwall and beyond followed suit.

But the MCS said the  amount of litter on Britain’s beaches has more than doubled in the last 15 years to reach record levels. It found 385,659 items of rubbish across the UK.

Beach litter can also be hazardous to people and costs millions to clear up.

More than 5,000 volunteers for the MCS surveyed 175.7 kilometres (109 miles) on 374 beaches for the survey, collecting 3,188 bags of rubbish last September.

More than a third of the litter picked up (37.7 per cent) was classed as “public litter”, which has come from members of the public and includes rubbish such as cigarette butts, drinks and food containers and plastic bags left on the beach or washed or blown over from other places.

Fishing litter, such as nets or angling lines, accounted for 13.8 per cent of the debris, while sewage-related rubbish was  6.2 per cent – of which 60 per cent was cotton bud sticks.