FROM dirty beach litter to trendy beachwear – a clean-up of Dorset's beaches is becoming fashionable.

Almost 800 bags of litter were collected by an army of volunteers who hit the coast for the Great Dorset Beach Clean, in its 27th year.

And in a first for the event, some of the plastic collected is set to be turned into trendy men's beach wear in a new project.

Plastic bottles from some cleans have been donated to the London-based company Riz Boardshorts which creates sustainable clothing.

Around 50 plastic bottles – making at least two pairs of shorts – have been handed over following last weekend's clean event.

Ali Murrell from Riz Boardshorts said: "It seems bonkers to me that we use something for less than five minutes and throw it away, when it can be turned into something useful, valuable, long-lasting and something which can be cherished."

The clean, which targeted 26 of Dorset’s beaches, involved more than 700 volunteers and 20 different organisations which offered a couple of hours to make a difference.

They hit beaches from Friars Cliff in the east to Lyme Regis in the west.

Local events were organised at Newtons Cove, Bowleaze Cove, Chesil Beach at Portland and Burton Bradstock.

Items collected including fishing line and netting, tonnes of plastic and even half a boat.

For the first time, the clean-up was co-ordinated by the Litter Free Coast and Sea Project, part of the Dorset Coast Forum.

Project co-ordinator Natalie Poulter said ‘We’d like to give a huge vote of thanks to all the organisations who agreed to host a clean and, most importantly, to the hundreds of volunteers who gave up their time to help clean up Dorset’s beaches in time for the summer season."

She added: "Beach cleans are an important way for us to understand what rubbish is being found on which beaches. In turn, this helps us to work out who we can work with to help stop more getting out there in the future – after all, if we don’t reduce the amount going into the sea, these clean ups will go on forever."

Litter collected will be processed by the Dorset Waste Partnership, which will be recycling the waste wherever possible to prevent it going to landfill.

Natalie Poulter added: "There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic floating and sinking their way around this planet’s oceans, and washing up on beaches.

"I’m thrilled that Dorset’s residents are passionate about protecting their part of the coast, and are willing to give up their time to make a dent in that figure."