BRITISH beaches are the resting places for mountains of litter and a tide of filth — with more arriving on every wave.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) revealed that nationally half a TV, a French bullet-proof vest and an unopened pack of bacon were among the 223,405 items of litter bagged up by volunteers as part of the Beachwatch Big Weekend 2013.

Lauren Eyles, MCS Beachwatch Officer, said: “This is a disgusting tide of litter which is threatening the safety of beach visitors both human and animal.

“It’s coming in from the sea, being blown from the land or simply being dumped and dropped.

“After 20 years of campaigning it’s disheartening that in 2013 we are seeing worse litter levels than ever.”

The UK’s beach clean-up and survey has been running for 20 years and the amount of litter found on beaches has been said to be steadily increasing.

Over the last two decades 59,493 volunteers have removed 5,528,399 pieces of litter from 3,080.5km of coastline.

Cumbria has also been doing its bit to blitz its beaches last week as Duddon Inshore Rescue organised a spring clean at Askam-in-Furness recently, filling a large skip with rubbish which was mainly plastic brought in from recent high tides and storms.

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