WALES' leading marine charity is urging coast lovers to do their bit in the worldwide fight against marine litter.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is running its 24th annual Great British Beach Clean-up event across the UK between September 15-18.

Gill Bell, MCS head of conservation in Wales, said: "Wales has so much beautiful coastline.

"The public often feel there is little they can do to tackle the issue of beach litter, which causes problems to both humans and wildlife."

During the 2016 Great British Beach Clean event, 408 volunteers cleaned 28 beaches across Wales. There was a 16% increase in litter on Welsh beaches compared to 2015.

"Our beach cleans and surveys are vital because they gather the real evidence we need to show governments the issues that beach litter poses."

Although the Great British Beach Clean doesn’t take place until September, MCS says it’s vital that new organisers get involved now so volunteers have enough time to sign up to the new clean-ups.

"What really concerned us in 2016 was that the public seemed less engaged with beach cleaning than ever before," said Ms Bell.

"Beaches surveyed, volunteers taking part and the distance surveyed all decreased in 2016. That's why we're putting out a call to find more people to organise beach cleans around the Welsh coast.

"We know people love the beautiful coastline we have but unless we get more beaches cleaned, it's harder to do something about it."

If you would like to organise a beach clean event and help tackle beach litter globally, visit www.mcsuk.org/greatbritishbeachclean or telephone 01989 566017.