DOZENS of litter-pickers braved the wet weather to help clean up the Meirionnydd coastline over the weekend.

The event was the first one organised by the Tywyn Beach Guardians.

Following a brief health and safety talk by Aled Lewis from Tywyn Town Council, the eager beach cleaners – including town councillors Marisa O’Hara and Quentin Deakin – dispersed along the beach.

Some focused on the prom and the dunes whilst others went further afield, tackling the stretch leading to Aberdyfi.

In total, enough rubbish was collected to fill two large skips which were provided by Tywyn Town Council and Alun Wyn Evans and then collected by Gwynedd Council.

The most commonly-found types of debris were plastic bottle caps, drinking straws, fishing rope and tiny pieces of broken-down plastic, but many large items were also uncovered such as shoes and crates.

Michelle Bain and Victoria Lane, who originally came up with the idea for the clean-up, were astounded at how many people turned up.

“On a cold damp Sunday morning, we were in truth not expecting a good turn-out,” said Michelle.

“But we estimated that we had between 50 and 60 adults and children. It was uplifting and emotional to see that so many were so passionate about keeping our beach clean.”

The date for the next beach clean has yet to be decided but updates will be provided on the Tywyn Beach Guardians Facebook page and the Greener Tywyn website.