DORSET’S coastal clean-up continued yesterday with volunteers grabbing their gloves and descending on Chesil Beach.

The beach clean involved collecting debris caused by the recent severe storms that have battered the county, including items from the Svenborg Maersk container ship, which lost cargo after encountering storms off the coast of Northern France last month.

Volunteers gathered at two meeting points from 11am – the Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Fine Foundation Chesil Beach Centre and the former police check point opposite the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on Portland.

Dorset Wildlife Trust trainee Megan Shersby said that a total of 20 bags of rubbish were collected by the centre.

She added: “More than 20 people attended the clean up and there was a great sense of community.”

Southill residents Brian and Valerie James were just two of the volunteers.

Mr James said: “We have been doing cleans like this since the start of the bad weather, events like these help the community and are for a great cause.

“There’s still a fair bit of rubbish on Chesil Beach but everyone clubbed together and helped clear a lot of debris.”

Elsewhere, volunteers met at Ringstead Beach to help clear debris and the Lulworth Estate held a beach clean at Lulworth Cove.