The battle to keep beaches free of plastic as Brexit looms

The campaign group Surfers Against Sewage has switched its focus from sewage to fighting plastic pollution, as it warns that Brexit could have a devastating impact on some of Britain’s best-known beaches.

Over the years, European Union directives have improved water quality so that 93% of beaches in England are now rated good or excellent.

In the early 1990s, when Surfers Against Sewage was set up, just 28% would have reached that standard.

The campaign’s chief executive, Hugo Tagholm, told Sky News: "We understand that the Great Repeal Act will bring all European legislation into our statute books here in the UK, but we are concerned because who is going to monitor us?

"Who will hold us to account? Because we won’t be under the watchful eye of the European Commission.

"So, actually, we want to use the current guidelines as a baseline and move on beyond that."

This week, Surfers Against Sewage has organised a number of beach cleans up and down the country, with thousands of people expected to turn out to help.

Among the litter found so far are car tyres, crisp packets and water bottles dating back to the 1960s.

The group is now calling for a deposit return scheme to be set up in Britain to curb the issue.

The idea of a deposit return scheme in the UK was highlighted as part of the Sky Ocean Rescue campaign, which launched earlier this year.

The initiative, which gives a person money back when they return a plastic bottle, has already seen success in other countries.

Plastics break down over time into microplastics but never fully disappear. They are ingested by birds and marine life, meaning they eventually make their way into our food chain.

It is also common for animals to feel full after eating plastic, so many end up dying of starvation.

Professional surfer Jayce Robinson, who is supporting the fight against plastics, said: "When I am surfing, it’s varied across different beaches.

"Sometimes you see it and it’s pretty hideous in places and it does disgust me … big bundles of plastic come in and different parts of plastic come in. When you see it in that mass, it’s just horrible to see."

While some are concerned about the impact leaving the EU will have on our waterways, others insist going it alone will better protect us.

Former environment secretary Owen Paterson told Sky News: "We will be back on the world bodies deciding world regulation with like-minded countries eager to pursue like-minded objectives, and then we will be able to reinterpret them and readapt them to our own environment, with much more effective results."

Britain’s beaches were once known as the dirty man of Europe.

Those who focus their lives around them have concerns that when we leave the EU, decades of hard work will be undone.

(c) Sky News 2017: The battle to keep beaches free of plastic as Brexit looms