Bank holiday weekend saw another clean-up, this time in Little Bay area, by a group of police recruits carrying out a community project as part of their training programme. The group worked hard over several hours to extract three truckloads of rubbish ranging from the ubiquitous nappy to carelessly dumped contractors materials used during the cliff stabilisation and other works. Much of this is not only unsightly or unhygienic, but also dangerous in zones which are designated as recreational.

The recruits divided up to tackle a number of sites which, with their hard work, were quickly transformed. The beach was coated in various forms of marine debris and needed attention. General rubbish like bottles and timber as well as tiny polystyrene pellets was removed. The latter is known to be toxic to the marine environment and could potentially impact on the food chain.

The clean-up forms part of Gibraltar’s’ “Clean up the World 2008” campaign and highlights:

· the continuing littering problem by some beach users;
· the ever present marine debris and
· the need for contractors to be more diligent when removing materials on completion of works.

The ESG is extremely grateful to the Royal Gibraltar Police and to the recruits in particular for helping to clean up more of Gibraltar’s green and coastal areas and supporting the Clean Up the World Campaign.