The UK’s Prime Minister has recognised Bill Dale for his exceptional service founding ’Beach Buddies’, a charity running more than 200 beach cleans a year to ensure the Manx coastline is one of the cleanest in Europe.

After conducting clean-ups with a friend and collecting more than 30,000 pieces of litter over six weekends, Mr Dale launched the initiative across the Isle of Man in 2007 to encourage more people to get involved.

The charity now has 12,000 registered volunteers, amounting to about 14% of the island’s population, and in 2016 Unesco granted the entire island biosphere reserve status as an outstanding example of a place where people and nature work in harmony.

Mr Dale launched the first ’Isle of Man Environment Festival’ last month. It brought together the island’s largest environmental charities to publicise problems of marine pollution. It was attended by more than 1,400 people.

Mr Dale is the latest recipient of the Points of Light award, which recognises outstanding volunteers who are making a change in their community and inspiring others.

Each day, someone, somewhere in the country is selected to receive the award to celebrate their remarkable achievements.

Mr Dale’s award follows World Oceans Day, the UN celebration of marine environments.

In a personal letter to Mr Dale, Theresa May said: ’Through "Beach Buddies" you are pioneering awareness of marine pollution and ensuring that the Manx coastline is one of the cleanest in Europe. With your army of volunteers you are mobilising hundreds of clean-ups a year, which will have a long-standing impact on this beautiful environment.’

Mr Dale said: ’This is a really nice surprise, and recognition for the achievements of our huge number of volunteers, who I believe have made our island the cleanest in the world. We hope this award will help us spread the word around the world that people can get together and bring about exceptional positive changes to their environment.’

Bill is the 1,197th winner of the Points of Light award.