A woman is organising 12 beach cleans this year.

Natasha Hope aged 45 from Maiden Newton is aiming to organise a beach clean every month.

They will take place across four different beaches in Dorset.

The first event took place on West Bexington.

Ms Hope said: “Before New Year’s I saw a Facebook post about a grandmother who did a beach clean once a week last year.

“She did it because she felt responsible as for her generation who started the plastic influx.

“I thought, I can’t do 52 beach cleans, but I can organise one a month, then my friends Mel and Amanda said they would help.

“We did our first one on January 12. Thankfully we didn’t have this wet weather.

“The sun was out and there was a beautiful rainbow, it was a pretty mild day really.”

Ms Hope said around 15 to 16 people turned up to take part.

She explained: “We set up a Facebook group, but I think a lot of it was word of mouth, telling people to come down.

“There was a real mix of ages from 15-year-olds to people aged 70.

“When I get an idea, I always go full steam ahead. Melissa Denton who runs Medisave donated some of the gloves and grabbers.

“The bags were mostly reusable, so we didn’t contribute to any additional waste.”

The next beach clean will take place on Sunday, February 23 at Chiswell Beach on Portland.

Ms Hope said: “It’s really helpful if people have grabbers and their own equipment because we don’t always know how many will arrive. It’s quite hard to get the quantity of stuff we need.

“We tell people to bring their own stuff, but we will be bringing spares.”

She said the ‘more you pick rubbish off beaches the more you become aware of what items people use.”

She added: “There’s a lot of doom and gloom out there, but doing something like this is a great way to be positive. It’s also a good chance to have a nice walk in a beautiful place.

“It always brings out the best in people. Hopefully by the end of the year we won’t be able to stop doing them.”

The four beaches the group will be targeting include West Bexington, Chiswell Beach, The Fleet and Cogden Beach.

If you would like to get involved in the next beach litter pick email Ms Hope on her email natashahopeyoga@outlook.com