Six large jars full of cigarette ends were cleared from the streets in a bid to stop the hazardous waste from polluting the marine environment off the Jurassic Coast

Litter Free Purbeck was boosted by 16 volunteers during its ‘blitz the butts’ event Swanage earlier this month.

Cigarette butts are the most commonly found form of ocean litter, and represent 40 per cent of all street litter in the UK.

Organiser John Kirwin said: "The butts are everywhere, but they are concentrated outside pubs, cafes, restaurants, betting shops, the station and entrance halls to apartments.

"They usually stay there until the next rain washes them down the drains and the next stop is the sea.

"They have now been saved from entering the sea which is where many of them would have ended up after being washed down the drains.”

According to experts, once the butts find their way into the marine environment they can cause great harm, and they are often mistaken for food by fish, birds and other sea creatures.

The 'blitz the butts' event in Swanage was held to help clear the streets and protect the sea.

A recent Keep Britain Tidy survey revealed 52 per cent of smokers thought it was alright to discard cigarette butts down drains.

Litter Free Coast and Sea (LFCS) project officer Sarah Spurling said: "People may not realise that despite their small size cigarettes are hazardous, unsightly and dropping them is an offence and can incur a fine.

"They are made of plastic and take many years to disappear often being mistaken for food by wildlife.”

LFCS is an ongoing campaign to reduce the social, economic and environmental impacts of marine and beach litter, and improve and maintain bathing water quality along the Dorset and East Devon coast.

It is supported and promoted by more than 500 local organisations and individuals.