It's thought a stretch of beach in the north of the Island was entirely cleared of rubbish for the first time in living memory yesterday (Sat)

The volunteer group Beach Buddies spent an hour on the mile of shoreline between Cranstal and the Point of Ayre and collected 33 bags of rubbish, including1,500 items of plastic.

It was the first major beach clean of the year for the Buddies who last year spent weekends cleaning numerous stretches of the Island's coastline.

The group says some of the rubbish had clearly been there for a very long time and before cleaning the beach was regarded by many as the worst polluted on the Island.

Among the items found was a large commercial lobster pot which had been lost by a local fishing boat during recent storms. Crew members will retrieve the pot later this week.

The plastic items were taken to be recycled by the Northern Civic Amenity Site.

Beach Buddies Big Team events will revert to Sunday mornings from now on throughout the rest of the year, with the team tackling Castletown Bay next weekend, on 24th Feb.