Plastic still washing up on Norfolk beaches months after North Sea tanker collision

Plastic pollution is still being found washed up on Norfolk beaches following the North Sea tanker collision four months ago.

West Norfolk Council’s cabinet member for environment, Sandra Squire, has said plastic nurdles continue to be collected from beaches, with a huge clean-up operation still ongoing.

Teams have been hoovering swathes of beaches since March this year after two tankers collided into each other off the coast of East Yorkshire, causing a huge fire and sending debris towards our county.

Sensitive nature sites like Scolt Head Island are still due to be cleaned in the autumn.

The US oil tanker, Stena Immaculate, was damaged and caught fire after being hit by a container ship, Solong.

One of the vessels was carrying a large quantity of plastic nurdles which have washed ashore in Norfolk.

In a report to the borough council, Cllr Squire said: “We have dealt with the immediate aftermath.

“Although a lot of nurdle pollution has been collected from the shoreline, some still remains.”

While the clean-up continues, an event has been held to thank those involved in the emergency response at Lynn Town Hall this month.

Cllr Squire added: “It was a herculean effort to clean up our beaches.

“We didn’t cause the pollution that arrived on our beaches. We couldn’t have foreseen it, I certainly never thought I would ever be reporting to the council that we were literally having to vacuum the beaches.

“But when the call came, everyone rose to the occasion.”

The North Sea tanker collision resulted in the death of a Filipino national - and the ship’s captain, a 59-year-old Russian, Vladimir Motin, from Primorsky, St Petersburg, was subsequently charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

People can continue to report any debris found on Norfolk’s beaches to the borough council.