Cornish family turns beach plastic waste into art

A family left "shocked" by the amount of litter found on Cornish beaches have turned their finds into art.

Vanessa Gosbee, who lives in Padstow, said she and her sons had recently discovered "more waste than ever".

Stormy weather in January saw a "tidal wave of waste" scooped up from the seabed on to beaches in the south-west of England.

Ms Gosbee said the art is donated to a local restaurant, who sell the pieces to raise money for beach cleaning.

"We spend most of our time at Trevone, Constantine Bay, Mawgan Porth and Watergate Bay," Ms Gosbee said.

"Both myself and my boys have found it shocking, we couldn't turn a blind eye to it, it affects us all, so we needed to do something.

"I love being creative and being a mum, and sharing life's experiences with my children, including educating them about the importance of recycling and keeping our beaches clean for the sake of nature."

The worst beach Ms Gosbee says she tackled was Constantine Bay in north Cornwall.

"There was masses of waste," she said.

"It could have easily filled in excess of 100 bags of rubbish.

"Old boots, surgical gloves, flippers, thousands of plastic bottles... [there was] so much waste."

A £750,000 scheme to tackle plastic pollution in the South West has been launched by the Environment Agency.

It follows the government's pledge to eliminate avoidable waste and plastics in the UK by 2042.