Clean-up operation continues at Sunderland seafront following huge storms

Damage to the railings at Roker Pier. Picture by Brian Priest.

Taken from a drone camera, footage shows much of the pier's railings bent over after massive waves crashed into them.

Some of the railings have even fallen into the sea.

Rubbish, plastic, driftwood and dead sea life have washed up on Sunderland's beaches, with a clean-up operation now well underway to tidy up the areas.

Colin Gowland, 52, from Whitburn was walking on the beach at Roker with wife Lysa on Monday when he saw the mess left following the storms and says it would take a "smally army" to clear the debris away.

He said: "There is such a mixture of plastic in these pictures it is unbelievable, amongst all of the driftwood and fishing nets and ropes etc the plastic is the most prominent item.

"As has been reported it is not just the large items but the small broken down tiny plastic grains and polystyrene bits that kill ocean life.

Rubbish washed up on Roker Beach following last week's storms. Picture by Colin Gowland.

"Hopefully the council will take the tractors onto the beach and scrape up the lot as to try and walk and bag would be an almost impossible task in this extreme cases.

"We pick up plastics etc whenever we can but on this occasion there is such an abundance it would take a small army to clear it.

"We actually picked some vials of insulin unopened yesterday and disposed of them.

"I have in the past found a blood filled syringe on the shoreline and got rid of it in my sharps box at home.

"I am aware that there are groups organising to help beach clean up but the beach is littered at present and the amount of tiny polystyrene bits etc is immense.

"The beach is littered with driftwood, plastic in abundance, nets and ropes, dead sea birds and all manner of seaweed etc."