A TEAM of dedicated cleaners braved the blustery conditions to comb the Lyme Regis beaches to rid them of rubbish.

Twenty-five people attended the event, which was organised by Litter Free Coast and Sea, and the team searched the seafront for rubbish that had been washed up or left behind by tourists.

Around 20 bin-bags of rubbish were collected from Front Beach and Monmouth Beach, with everything from plastic bottles to rope, mop heads to fleeces found.

Matilda Bark, who organised the event, said: “It was a really good beach clean and there was a nice mixture of ages of people who turned up, some came in families and there were couples there and people who turned up on their own.

“It was a really nice community effort and everyone stayed for the whole time even though the weather was bad.

“Generally the beach is quite clean anyway but there was a few bits on the main beach, someone found a mop head and there was a really long bit of fleece fabric buried in the sand.”

Ms Bark also confirmed that the sight of volunteer cleaners collecting rubbish from the beaches would become a regular event.

She added: “At the last meeting people said they wanted to meet monthly, but what we'll do is email the people who came to this one and see what they want to do.

“We would like to do it on a monthly basis and it would be good if it became an active group and gathered after bad weather.”

Patrick Elliott, who attended the event, said: “I think there was a bit of Dunkirk spirit going on because it was really windy and then it started raining, people did well to keep going.

“At first I didn't think there would be too much to pick up but we got quite a bit. There was quite a few plastic bottles and several cigarette lighters which were quite annoying.

"I was quite surprised at how much we picked up, there were about 25 bags of rubbish in the end. We all want to see a nice clean beach so it's a great idea.”