One ton of rubbish was collected from the beach and in the sea at the Ayios Georgios beach in Peyia, organisers said on Sunday.

The Akti Research centre, the municipality of Peyia and Cydive organised the clean up on Saturday.

President of the board of Akti Xenia Loizidou said about 70 volunteers participated in the campaign, mainly retired Britons residing in Peyia and 22 divers from Cydive.

Loizidou said that within an hour they collected a ton of rubbish, of which 70 per cent was plastic and the rest was household waste and pieces of wood.

She said many of the plastics appeared to have come from neighbouring countries.

Also collected were pieces of styrofoam that are used by fishermen.

In co-operation with Lidl, Akti is also measuring the amount of microplastics found on the beaches, and Loizidou said that even on remote beaches they are found.

Loizidou said the seas have become ‘soups’ of plastics, with microplastics found everywhere, we breathe them, we swallow them, we live with them and we must be able to face the great danger of plastic pollution along with other forms of pollution.