LOCAL environmental groups are appealing for volunteers to help clean up Minehead and Dunster beaches on the weekend of September 20 and 21.

The Plastic Free Community Groups of Minehead and Exmoor will be leading two Marine Conservation Society and Great British Beach Clean events and are hoping as many people as possible will go along to help.

The groups organise regular beach cleaning sessions and work with businesses, local councils and individuals to work towards plastic free countryside and beaches and to raise awareness of plastic pollution.

Dunster beach will be cleaned on the Saturday from 10 am to 12 noon, meeting in the Dunster Beach car park, and the Minehead clean-up is scheduled for Sunday from 10 am to 12 noon, meeting outside the Beach Hotel.

Litter pickers and sacks will be provided by the organisers but anybody attending will need to take their own gloves and go dressed for the weather conditions.

Free parking will be available at Dunster for all volunteers, who can collect permits from the organisers on arrival.

As part of the clean-up, there will be a survey of debris and litter collected and the results will be shared with the Marine Conservation Society and the Surfers Against Sewage charity so the organisations can help monitor pollution and protect marine life.

The beach cleans are part of the Marine Conservation Society’s annual Great British Beach Clean and the Severn Estuary Big Beach Clean.

They are being run with the support of Surfers Against Sewage, the Beach Hotel in Minehead, Dunster Beach Holidays, and Minehead Coast and Development Trust.

More information about the events and bookings for places on one or both of the beach cleans can be found on the Marine Conservation Society Great British Beach Clean website or by emailing [email protected].