Mother Ivey’s Bay Holiday Park in Padstow has stepped up its fight to keep local beaches clean by investing in special equipment which can rid the sand of micro-plastics.

Called a trommel, the machine sieves the sand to separate out ‘nurdles’, the small plastic pellets produced in their billions each year during the manufacture of plastic products.

The anti-pollution device, which is operated manually, has been designed and manufactured by Nurdle, a not-for-profit business based in north Devon.

Staff at Mother Ivey’s Bay carry out regular beach clean-ups throughout the year, and team leader Anna Wilsher says the trommel will make a huge difference:

“Last year we noticed nurdles during our beach cleans, and although it was possible to pick these up by hand, we have been on the look-out for a way that makes the task easier,” she said.

“It’s a fantastic piece of equipment and easy to use. I am looking forward to letting families staying at our holiday park to have a go as it’s also actually rather fun!”

Once the nurdles have been separated, they will be upcycled and used by local artist Veronika Niewiadomska.

“I’m really excited about this project, and really looking forward to working with the recovered plastic to create collages and sculptures,” she said.