A LARGE-SCALE litter picking project to tidy up beaches and rivers across north Wales has been hailed a success.

Over 1,500 volunteers from Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy, Anglesey, Gwynedd and Wrexham counties joined forces to clear about 1,100 bags of litter from north Wales' beaches and rivers.

More than 230 events took place across the country for the All Wales Beach Clean between September 14 and 30, organised by Keep Wales Tidy, the charity for environmental preservation and improvement, with community groups, schools and businesses joining the two weeks of action.

Lesley Jones, Chief Executive of Keep Wales Tidy said:

“It was great to see so many people from North Wales joining forces and getting involved in the All Wales Beach Clean – it was a fantastic example of what communities can achieve when they work together.”

“We want to show the rest of the world that Wales is rising to the challenge of tackling marine pollution. Because everyone can play their part to make a positive and lasting difference to our marine environment."

Marine litter poses a growing threat to coastal environments - in 2016, 200 plastic bottles were found per mile of UK coastline.

The All Wales Beach Clean is being supported by McDonald’s. The campaign has also received funding via the Regional Tourism Engagement Fund (RTEF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).