AMATEUR environmentalists will be hitting the beach this weekend to help reduce rubbish at an East Durham beauty spot.

Volunteers from the Plastic Bag-Free Seaham group will be carrying out a beach survey and litter pick at Seaham on Sunday.

The group, who will be assessing the level and type of litter on the beach, will be joined by volunteer Coast and Countryside Rangers from Durham County Council.

Members of the community are also being encouraged to get involved, with volunteers asked to meet at the war memorial at 11am.

The activity has been organised by Jean Tyers, a retired probation officer from Durham, who adopted a section of the beach through the Marine Conservation Society (MCS).

Ms Tyers said: "We carry out four surveys every year, with people working in twos or threes to categorise and log every item of rubbish they find.

"The results are then sent to the MCS to help build up a national picture of coastal pollution and give us an idea of what the biggest problems are in our area."

Past surveys at Seaham have revealed that the biggest local pollutant is plastic, with carrier bags counting for 50 per cent of rubbish collected from the beach.