Campaigners for a ‘Plastic Free Tenby’ were delighted that the ‘Big Spring Beach Clean’ on Saturday was a huge success with over 150 volunteers taking part.

The event took place to coincide with the announcement that group is ready to complete its application to receive accreditation as a ‘Plastic-Free Town’.

Over 30 large sacks of rubbish were removed from all of the resort’s beaches and a large tractor tyre rolled from Giltar Point by the team of volunteers from Valero.

A large group of 30 volunteers from Valero swelled the numbers that included - the Sailing Club, Lifeguards, Sea Cadets, Tenby Aces and staff from Sainsbury’s together with lots of local people joining the effort.

Anna and Jaz Strzelecki from the ‘Surfers Against Sewage’ organisation assisted volunteers on the South Beach and Clr. Sam Skyrme-Blackhall marshalled the teams on the North beaches.

Tenby’s coastguards also joined in with the event by holding their abseiling cliff clean on the day, assisted by Tenby’s fire crew as part of their joint training initiative, with a coastguard rope technician lowered on to the cliff top along The Esplanade.

Volunteers who gathered in the mist and finished in glorious sunshine were rewarded with coffee refills from Beach Box, cakes from Caffi Pura and chips from Del and Charles at Fecci’s, while St. Catherine’s Island offered free visits to the landmark for all volunteers.

The successful beach clean is the start of a number of beach cleans that will be happening throughout the year.

‘Plastic Free Tenby’ are also pleased to note that a number of local people undertake beach cleans every day.

Speaking afterwards Clr. Sam Skyrme-Blackhall said: "We are delighted that so many people supported the Big Beach Clean. We are grateful for the support from Fecci’s, Valero and Sainsbury’s. It just goes to show that businesses are embracing this initiative and are keen to play their part.

“A big thanks also goes to all the Tenby organisations and individuals who collectively showed that we are determined to rid our beaches of plastic and other waste.

“This is only the start and there is more to be done. We need to keep our beaches clean, and we want people to take responsibility for removing waste and we want to get more bins and recycling points in place in the future,” she added.

The coastguards would like to thank the fire crew for their help and also a big thank you to Mark from Dale Coastguard Team.