A lot of litter is pushed onto the Atlantic coast but the South-west's many tourists are the main culprits here

Richard Harrington, MCS

The UK average of litter items found along each kilometre of beach was 1,576.

The South West, with coastline in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset, recorded the highest levels of tourist litter (775 items per kilometre) and the highest overall litter density (2,135 items per kilometre).

MCS spokesman Richard Harrington said: "Litter on South West beaches is a persistant problem, despite water companies' and local authorities' efforts to sort it out.

Tourism is huge on much of the Cornish coast

"A lot of litter is pushed onto the Atlantic coast but the South West's many tourists are the main culprits here.

"Everyone can help by taking responsibility for their own waste disposal.

"People can also get involved with conservation projects and their council's environmental plans."

Tourists were the main source of litter in every region.

Fishing debris was the second most common source of litter in most areas with the exception of the North West.

Here, the highest levels of sewage related debris were recorded.

St Annes came top of the cleanest beaches

But the North West resort of St Annes on Lancashire's Fylde coast was revealed as the UK's cleanest beach.

Mr Harrington said: "Quite a big stretch of beach at St Annes came out as the cleanest.

"But we think there may have been a big clean-up by the council just before we arrived."

Phil Woodward, director of environmental services at Fylde Borough Council, admitted there was still work to be done.

Continuous job

"We're aware there's no need to be complacent about this.

"We're conscious of the fact we need to keep actively involved and focused on cleaning our beaches."

The North East coast, from Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland to Spurn Point in Lincolnshire, fared quite well with an average 1,582 litter items per kilometre.

On Sandhaven beach in Northumberland, levels were as low as 175 items per kilometre.

In the South East the average 1,660 items of litter per kilometre was slightly up on last year.