PEOPLE across Yorkshire are being urged to sign a petition appealing for the Government to do more to protect the region's marine environment.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust believes time is running out for the habitats of seas around the coast.

It claims they are threatened by pollution and development, over-exploitation by industrial-scale fishing, and are almost wholly unprotected by effective laws.

More than 40,000 species - 50 per cent of the UK's plants and animals, including whales and dolphins - depend on healthy seas for survival.

Conservation groups have been lobbying the Government for some time to introduce a new marine Bill, with a positive response. In the last parliamentary session more than 300 MPs signed a motion calling for new legislation.

There is no chance, however, of the legislation being brought in during the next parliamentary session or before the General Election, expected next May.

Louise Wilkinson, the trust's wildlife policy manager, said: "We can't afford to wait years for this vital protection to be introduced, so we must keep the profile of the marine environment, and the need for new laws to protect our seas, as high as possible."

The marine petition can be signed online by visiting www.wildlifetrusts.org or by writing a letter of support to Marine Bill Campaign, The Wildlife Trusts, The Kiln, Waterside, Mather Road, Newark, NG24 1WT.