Plastic Free Falmouth applaud those who turned out in the wind and rain to rid the town's beaches of rubbish

Supporters of the Plastic Free Falmouth initiative and members of Falmouth Marine Conservation (FMC) spent the morning scouring the beaches, nearby gardens and footpaths for rubbish, and plastic in particular.

Dressed for the weather, the group didn't let the rain put them off. "We were really pleased," said Plastic Free Falmouth's Kirstie Edwards. "It just goes to show that people are happy and willing to embrace this movement. The age range was from two to 75 I reckon - really fab.

"We collected several bags from the beach, gardens and footpaths, the plastic will be used by ‘fathoms free paddle for plastic’ to make recycled plastic kayaks. The event was a huge success and we can’t wait for the next one."

The following day some of the volunteers met up with Wayne Dixon and his dog Koda who are walking the entire British coastline, picking up litter along the way, in support of Keep Britain Tidy.

He and Koda targeted Falmouth's beaches and streets, through to Penryn, Flushing and Mylor and also stretches of the Helford River.

Wayne said on his Facebook page: "The walk from Helford to Falmouth is a lovely walk, the small coves on this way aren't catch points, so not much litter. I cleaned up Gyllyngvase beach. The litter then started along the road into town.

"Falmouth does have a litter issue, especially on the sea front walk and the roads leading into town. I've cleaned up the roads from Gylly beach cafe around to the Point. The car park here was bad and stuff thrown down the grass verges.

"I cleaned up the main street and the road leading from Falmouth to Penryn. It was quite bad. In total I've collected seven bags of rubbish."

Plastic Free Falmouth's next event will be a town clean as part of the Falmouth Spring Festival on March 17. On April 8 they will then join with Surfers Against Sewage and FMC for a beach clean at Swanpool from 2pm.