BEACHES in the North West and Isle of Man have been named the second dirtiest in the country after an annual litter survey.

Beachwatch '98 found more than 25,000 items of litter on 18 beaches - including a whole fishing net, film negatives and 19 Irish and nine Dutch milk cartons.

A total of 2,962 items per kilometre were found, compared to a national average of 1,936. The highest levels of sewage related debris and tourist litter in England were recorded on beaches in the North West and Isle of Man.

But the litter level was down by 28 per cent from Beachwatch '97.

Beachwatch is a national initiative by Reader's Digest and the Marine Conservation Society. Volunteers carried out the survey, and collected the rubbish, over the weekend of September 19 and 20 last year.

The study included six beaches in Lancashire, at Fairhaven, Fleetwood, Heysham and St Annes.

Nationally, most litter was found on Scottish beaches while those in the North East were the cleanest in England. The Channel Islands' beaches surveyed were cleaner still.

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