BEACHES across the county have been spruced up as volunteers undertook an annual beach clean.

The 28th Great Dorset Beach Clean attracted the help of more than 425 volunteers who helped tackle litter at 22 locations along the coast including Lyme Regis and Hive Beach.

More than 330 bags of litter was collected, around 470 fewer than last year's event.

The clean-up was co-ordinated by the Litter Free Coast and Sea Project, part of the Dorset Coast Forum.

Organisers would like to give a huge thanks to all the landowners, charities and helpers who hosted a clean and to the hundreds of volunteers who gave up their time to help clean up Dorset’s beaches.

Matilda Manley, project co-ordinator, said: "Beach cleans are an important way for us to understand what rubbish is being found on which beaches.

"In turn, this helps us to work out how we can help stop more getting out there in the future- after all, if we don’t reduce the amount going into the sea, these clean ups will go on forever."

She added: "It is very encouraging to see that there was a lot less litter collected this year than last. Lots of factors can affect this including recent weather. We also now have 19 two-minute beach clean stations and several community beach clean groups along the coast so beach cleans are happening more regularly throughout the year.

"However, we hope that less litter collected this year does indicates that less litter is being dropped along the coast. Huge thanks to everyone involved”.

Some volunteers recorded what was found during the cleans and found that plastic bottles, fishing line and cigarette butts were among the most common things left behind.

A number of the beach cleans also found nails from burnt wood and pallets left on the beaches.

Project officer Charlie Wild said: "It’s so easy to stop these kinds of things becoming litter on our beaches; bring a reusable bottle and refill it at one of the 60-plus Refill Dorset stations, use the bins provided or take your litter home, invest in a stubby pack to take your cigarette butts off the beach and dispose of.

"Every little action adds up to make a big difference together, and it really doesn’t take much time or effort to do your bit."