A cleaning effort on Ardrossan’s beach has resulted in nine bags of rubbish being removed from the area.

Taking place on September 25, the clean was organised by the Three Towns Clean Up Crew as part of the Marine Conservation Society’s Great British Beach Clean.

Member of the Clean Up Crew, Allan Merry, said: "On Sunday, 25 people turned up at the organised Ardrossan North Shore beach clean.

“They represented Calmac, North Ayrshire Ranger Service, the 1138 Ardrossan ATC and people from Glasgow, Beith, Kilwinning and of course, Ardrossan.

“Up to two hours was spent removing eight bags of general waste, one bag of recyclables, a tyre, a fish box, a carpet, a fishing net and a car battery.

“Despite the weather all seemed to enjoy the event and hoped to manage next year or at other events."

In Irvine, a clean-up resulted in 24kg of waste being removed from the back shore on Sunday September 25 and 21kg being removed from the beach in front of Western Gailes on Sunday September 18.

Last year, volunteers throughout the UK collected over 5 tonnes of litter.

Data from each clean is sent to the Marine Conservation Society for analysis and has been used to campaign for carrier bag charges and bans on single-use plastic.