COMMUNITY councillors are launching a campaign to protect Inverkip beach from rubbish being washed ashore.

Community councillor Gary Purdon and his colleagues want to keep the top Inverclyde beauty spot beautiful and help marine life flourish in the area.

They are concerned by the amount of litter that has started to come in with the tide and the items being left behind by visitors.

Hundreds of people use the beach and its coastal path every week.

Now Inverkip and Wemyss Bay Community Council have local schools running a poster design competition to raise awareness of the issue.

Gary said: “It is used by local people and visitors. There must be hundreds of people who come here every week.

“We want to keep the beach clean and safe. There is so much rubbish, all kinds of plastics, washing up and it shows what is in the water.

“We also want to encourage people to take their litter away or put it in a bin. On one side of the beach we get a lot of litter left behind by people and on the other side we get the debris washed up.”

Gary recently attended an event with the Marine Conservation Society aimed at tackling the issue of beach pollution.

As a result, the community decided to launch the campaign.
Inverclyde primary schools Aileymill, Inverkip, St Ninian’s, St Andrew’s and Wemyss Bay are all taking part in the poster competition, along with secondary schools St Columba’s and Inverclyde Academy.

The community council are putting up prize money for the winners and runners up.

Community councillor Eileen Virtue added: “We come down here most days to take a look around and clean up. It’s an asset to the area and very important to us.”

Fellow councillor Alison Clark added: “We are all passionate about it.”

Community groups regularly organise beach clean-ups at the beauty spot.

The Marine Conservation Society and Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park are also supporting the campaign.