Residents in east Cleveland are being asked to do their bit to stop sewage problems on Saltburn beach.

People who use the beach have complained of having to put up with sanitary waste and other personal products on the sand and stones.

Jackie Taylor, from Saltburn in Bloom, said: "There is a lot of sanitary waste on the beach at times.

"It seems to come in and out with the tide. It is an ongoing problem.

"I think people have got to be educated not to flush sanitary waste down the toilets because we need to keep our rivers and beaches clean."

In January 1994, swimmers and water sports lovers were promised a cleaner future when a £13m plan to deal with sewage at Saltburn was unveiled.

Norman Bainbridge, chairman of Friends of Saltburn Pier, said: "Sewage used to be a terrible problem on the beach before Northumbrian Water carried out extensive works about ten years ago and we have seen a great improvement.

"I am not aware of any recent worsening of the situation, but there are still things that occur on the beach which we would rather didn't."

A spokesman from Northumbrian Water said the sewerage system was designed to handle human waste, not personal products such as sanitary towels, tampons, nappies, condoms, razor blades, cotton buds, needles, facial cleaning pads or incontinence pads.

He said: "It is not pleasant or hygienic when they do land up in the sea, a river or on the beach.

"If we have a large amount of rain and the sewer fills up, the Environment Agency gives us permission to discharge straight into the sea or river in times of heavy rain to protect people's homes and prevent roads from flooding.

"Many of our combined sewer overflows are screened, but some are not.

"That is a possible way that these things have been ending up on the beach.

"The waste could also be washed onto the beach from other areas, such as Skinningrove which doesn't have a sewage treatment works, although we will be spending £7.5m from the summer on that."

He advised people to bag and bin non-human waste rather than flushing it away.

Nick Noble, the local representative for Surfers against Sewage, said: "Sewage-related waste is a quite a big problem on the beach at Saltburn, mainly when there is heavy rainfall and the sewerage system can't cope.

"The problem should improve with the new works being built at Marske.

"We would certainly welcome any further improvements."