‘It was absolute carnage’ – swimmer's fury as litter strewn on Sunderland beaches

Ira Mulieri has spoke of her fury following a huge increase in the amount of litter being left behind by beachgoers.

Footage sent to the Echo by Ira shows how much litter was on Seaburn beach at 5.30am on Monday, June 1.

Ira described the scene she faced as she went swimming this morning.

She said: “It was absolute carnage.

“The most heartbreaking thing was the amount of laughing gas canisters left behind, I picked up around 107 from the same spot.

“I filled a black bin bag within the space of a minute, but felt like my efforts were pathetic compared to the amount of rubbish that was there.”

Ira explained that she doesn’t blame people for going to the beach, but urges them to take their rubbish away.

She added: “I understand people are going to come to the beach, they have been locked inside for two months and the weather has been lovely.

“I swim in the sea most days and I tend to pick up the odd piece of litter but this past week has been absolutely shocking.

“From what I could see, the bins along the seafront were not even full.”

It comes as Sunderland Council posted a series of damning tweets on Saturday, May 30 about the amount of litter being left.

One tweet said: “You’ve been clapping for key workers for 10 weeks and then leaving your rubbish for them to pick up after you.”

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