A COLOURFUL chain of bottletops more than a kilometre long was carried down the cliffs at Whitsand Bay, presenting a powerful message on plastic litter.

There was a festival atmosphere as around 350 supporters gathered to help unwind the rainbow of plastic lids, collected off Cornish beaches and strung by volunteers over the past few months.

It took Rame Peninsula Beach Care members and their many helpers more than an hour to walk the chain down the path to Tregonhawke Beach and stretch it out along the sand.

While the chain formed a bright spectacle, the message behind it could not have been more serious; the 66,000 bottle tops it contains represent a tiny fraction of the plastic debris littering beaches and threatening the health of the seas.

The giant chain will be taken by campaigners to London as they call for stronger action to curb plastic marine waste.

Claire Wallerstein, of RPBC, said: 'Whitsand Bay has once again been the backdrop to another iconic event that highlighted how local people care about the marine environment.

'The timing of the event was because the Government currently has a consultation open into the EU Marine Strategy Framework – the UK must put forward proposals on how it intends to achieve good marine environmental status.

'After the amazing turnout and the outpouring of care and concern following on from the bottletop launch, we are asking people to do something really important – and respond to the consultation, which is open until April 24.'

Campaigners say that the Government's plan to introduce education on marine litter in schools is good, but does not go anywhere near far enough in tackling the issue of plastic pollution.

A coalition of Cornish organisations, including RPBC, is calling for much more stringent measures. These include: placing greater responsibility on plastics producers to deal with waste; a deposit system on plastic bottles, 15 million of which are thrown away by UK consumers each day; extension of the forthcoming plastic bag charge to all businesses; better rubbish and recycling facilities for fishermen and banning of plastic micro beads in cosmetics.

Some of the bottletops from the chain will be destined for a permanent exhibition at the National Marine Aquarium, others will be used in an art show in Bude, and the rest will be distributed to other groups working to raise awareness of plastic waste at sea.