From Long John Silver to Captain Jack Sparrow, pirates have plundered and pilfered their way through storybooks and films since time began - but one crew of kind hearted pirates from Weymouth has turned the tide to donate £1,000 to charity.

Yesterday (10), the infamous Pirates of the Pavilion visited Weymouth Sea Life Adventure Park to present a £1,000 donation to the Sea Life Trust charity, which works in partnership with the park to protect the ocean and its creatures.

The charity’s share of pirate booty was gathered from funds raised by Made to Measure Production’s aptly named Pirates of the Pavilion summer pantomime, which ran at Weymouth Pavilion throughout the summer holidays.

The money will be used to support the Sea Life Trust’s campaigns and projects to reduce ocean pollution, increase sustainable fishing methods and develop effective marine protected areas.

Lee Redwood of Made to Measure Productions - also known as Demonia the Sea Witch - said: “We really wanted to donate the money to the Sea Life Trust because although our summer pantomime was a fun-filled adventure with plenty of silly jokes, it had a serious underlying message about how children can help to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean, which is a huge focus for the Sea Life Trust.”

Lee added: “It was also lovely to come and make the donation at Weymouth Sea Life Adventure Park, as we filmed part of the opening sequence for the show here. Their team have been really supportive of our Pirates of the Pavilion pantomime because we are all very passionate about protecting our oceans - it’s great to be able to give something back.”

Beccy Briley, fundraiser at the Sea Life Trust, said: “We were absolutely delighted to receive the donation – you know you’re onto a good cause when pirates give up their treasure in support.

"We will be using the funds to support our ongoing work protecting our oceans and the amazing marine life in them. Our current Team Turtle campaign, where the public can make pledges to reduce ocean pollution on the Sea Life Trust website, focuses on protecting sea turtles. Turtles in particular are very vulnerable to the threat of plastic pollution in the ocean – especially when they mistake plastic bags for jelly fish and eat them, as jellyfish are one of their favourite foods.”

The #teamturtle campaign encourages the use of reusable resources in an effort to prevent ocean pollution and public pledges so far include using reusable shopping bags, reusable drinking straws and reusable water bottles.

For more information visitsealife.com/weymouth or teamturtle.sealifetrust.org/pledge