ITEMS reportedly destined for supermarkets in Europe have turned up on a number of Dorset beaches after containers on a ship went overboard during a storm.
The items - which include Lidl-branded air fresheners and crisps - have turned up along the coast at Kimmeridge, Ringstead, Hamm Beach on Portland, West Bay and Charmouth.
They are understood to have come from containers which fell from the ship Wec Van Eyck which was travelling in the western English Channel towards Spain and his a storm last month.
Since then, a number of reports of air fresheners and packets of crisps have been made with items washed up along the Dorset coast.
So far there have been 21 sightings of individual items that are believed to be related to the incident – they are a mix of ‘Air by W5’ branded air fresheners and ‘Alesto’ branded snack packets.
Now litter campaigners are urging people to report similar findings so they can collate the information and pass it on to the relevant agencies.
Read more: Residents invited to 'twist on the annual town meeting'
Emma Teasdale, from Litter Free Dorset, said: “We received the first report from a walker on Ringstead beach on Sunday, who took photos of some of the items they found.
“We have since been coordinating the effort to collate the items and locations, and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Dorset Council have been informed.
“We put the call out to our followers and community groups across Dorset, who have responded with details of further sightings at beaches including Ringstead, Kimmeridge, West Bay, Charmouth and more.
“We too believe the source to be spills from lost shipping containers and we are in communication with the relevant organisations.”
Read more: Dorset food hygiene ratings revealed
Reports have also been made to other campaigners.
Co-Founder of the Weymouth & Portland Marine Litter Project, David Taylor said: “We have had reports from other local groups between Swanage and Charmouth about Lidl items, and we were cleaning Hamm Beach on Thursday and found two Lidl air fresheners.
“Finding foreign items is a daily occurrence with empty water bottles from as far as China a regular occurrence. But brand-new items are less common and gives an insight into how far litter travels in the sea if the source is known.”
People are urged to message Litter Free Dorset on their Facebook or Instagram page to report any sightings – you should include the item type, date, location, and photo if possible.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel