'Truly shocking' amount of plastic pellets found washed up on Dorset beach

A "truly shocking" amount of plastic pellets have been washing up on a beach on Dorset's Jurassic Coast, posing a threat to wildlife.

Staff from Dorset Wildlife Trust's Wild Seas Centre at Kimmeridge Bay have reported the increase in white nurdles which have been found recently.

The pollutant is a form of raw plastic which is transported to factories to be moulded into plastic products, but regularly ends up in the sea after being spilled from container ships or washed down the drain from factories.

A Trust spokeswoman said: "Nurdles are not harmless plastic beads but instead pose a real threat to marine wildlife.

"Often eaten by fish and birds, they accumulate in their stomachs causing feeding and digestion problems which can be fatal."

Julie Hatcher, from the Wild Seas Centre, said: "For many years we have encouraged visitors to hunt for nurdles and hand pick them from the beach to help protect the important beach and shoreline wildlife.

"However, the number of nurdles currently on the beach has been truly shocking.

"We don't know where they have come from, but many people are collecting handfuls of them and bringing them to us for disposal."

The Trust is calling on people to collect and remove the pellets if they find them and to reduce the need for them by not using single-use plastics.