The shocking amount of rubbish - including hundreds of 'laughing gas' canisters - collected by volunteers on mission to clean up coastline

Over the last week, Whitburn resident Jonathan Boulton, has been out litter-picking along the coast near his home every day, as the high temperatures saw sunbathers flock to South Tyneside and Sunderland beaches.

He alone has collected over 70 black bin bags full of rubbish from along the coast at Seaburn and Whitburn.

Items discarded on the sand include crushed cans, broken glass bottles, food packaging, a baseball cap and plastic toys.

On Saturday, June 27 in just half an hour Jonathan collected 236 empty canisters of nitrous oxide – also known as ‘laughing gas’ from the car park outside Morrisons in Whitburn Road.

The 32-year-old is now encouraging other residents to help clean up the coast through the Fulwell, Roker, Seaburn and Whitburn community group of Facebook.

Earlier this month he organised a competition which saw local children design posters for the bins discouraging beach-goers from dropping litter.

“I started the group about a year ago for the community and over the last month we have been using it to raise awareness of littering as it’s become a massive issue,” said Jonathan, who runs his own plastering business.

“We have started to organise litter-picks on a small scale due to the social distancing restrictions, but we’ve had a lot of interest and we’re hoping it will grow.

“I’ve been going out every day over the last week, it just shows that even if you have a busy lifestyle you can still do your bit.”

Beauty spots in the region have seen an influx of litter blighting the landscape in recent weeks since the lockdown restrictions were eased.

“It’s important to let people know when they see us out that we’re giving up our spare time to do this – we’re not getting paid,” added Jonathan.

“We try to advise groups and give them bags to take their litter home in, but we need people down there issuing fines.”

Sunderland City Council has warned that anyone caught dropping litter will face fines of £150.

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