A volunteer for Beach Buddies who has spent time every day collecting rubbish on southern beaches since the start of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown has now found more than 35,000 items.

Roger Birtles, an educational support officer at St Ninian’s High School and Scout leader, has been a keen volunteer for the charity for several years.

He started keeping a record of his finds during daily exercise walks on the beaches when the coronavirus lockdown began in March.

Each day he has walked for up to two hours on the beaches around Castletown, Langness, Scarlett and Derbyhaven, picking up everything from a tiny piece of polystyrene to a huge fish box.

’I had no idea what to expect,’ he said.

’The daily average of more than 400 items was quite some surprise. To have collected such a huge number of items over the period was not what I expected.’

Roger’s total after 81 days has reached 35,331 individual items - an average of 436 items per day - and he’s still collecting each day and keeping a record of his finds.

Small pieces of plastic make up the vast majority of his haul, but the variety of items never ceases to amaze him, ranging from a wide range of small plastic toys to large numbers of golf balls and tennis balls.

’You never know what you might find,’ he added.

He has also found an unusual piece of metal which he believes might be many hundreds of years old and part of an ancient brooch or belt. He plans to take it to the Manx Museum for identification.

Beach Buddies’ founder Bill Dale said: ’Roger has been a great supporter and volunteer for our charity, but I had no idea he was going out every day and keeping records like this. It’s an eye-opener that just one man can find more than 35,000 items over 81 days, and shows the value of what just one person can achieve. It also shows that we need to keep on top of this, as the tide is obviously bringing in many thousands of items to Manx beaches every day. Roger is an absolute star, and a great example to us all.’

â?¢ Beach Buddies is sponsored by FIM Capital and receives funding from the DEFA.