Jude, 7 cleans up at beach

11:34am Monday 29th September 2008

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YOUNG Jude Heighton loves to play at the seaside - but the deadly waste he often finds there is no fun for birds and fish.

So the seven-year-old has teamed up with his gran to carry out regular clean-ups at Eype's Mouth beach where discarded plastic and fishing gear are putting wildlife at risk.

Gran Zanna Heighton, 61, of Victoria Grove, Bridport, said: "I'm really proud at how he's taken this on.

"We cleared seven bags of plastic last Sunday and he worked really hard.

"It is such a good thing he did and I wish more people would get up and do the same."

Mrs Heighton, a therapist, said that much of the rubbish was thrown up by the high tides and the big seas that often pound the beach.

"We collected four bags of water and milk bottles, which we take for recycling, along with lumps of broken plastic and lots of bits of fishing nets which can be really dangerous to widllife."

Jude said: "People just chuck their rubbish on the beach because they can't be bothered to find a bin.

"Some of it is very smelly and some is dangerous for animals and sea creatures and people.

"I would like the beach to be clean so me and my nanna though we had better do it ourselves. I picked up the rubbish because it needed doing and to make the world a bit better."

Jude is a pupil at Symondsbury Primary School, where the children are encouraged to think about the environment.

Head teacher Helen Farmer said he deserved a pat on the back for his beach cleaning efforts.

She said: "Jude is a very hard working and reliable boy and deserves to be commended for this.

"We do a lot for the environment at the school - running our own composting scheme encouraging children to be energy efficient and supporting the walk to school initiative."

Now Mrs Heighton wants to take her clean-up campaign to West Bay and launch an "adopt a beach" scheme there.

"People should realise that it's no good just saying how terrible the beach looks and presuming it's someone else's job to pick it up.

"It belongs to all of us. We got the world in the state it's in."

Sue Kinsey, of the Marine Conservation Society's (MCS), applauded Jude's beach cleaning efforts.

She said: "He's fantastic, and we hope it will encourage others to do the same.

"More than 170 species of marine wildlife including sea birds, turtles and whales have been recorded mistaking marine litter for food resulting in starvation, poisoning and fatal stomach blockages."

Ms Kinsey also welcomed the plan to adopt West Bay beach for the MCS.

"It was adopted but came off the list some time ago.

"This will fill a little hole in Dorset."

To help set up the scheme at West Bay call Mrs Heighton on 01308 427001.