Washed up cargo clear-up operation

Much of the debris and cargo from missing storage containers washed ashore locally has now been cleared from beaches across Bridgend County Borough.

Bridgend County Borough Council continues to work alongside the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to recover the washed-up cargo after a number of 40-foot long containers came off a cargo ship in the Celtic Sea.

The cargo from the containers was non-hazardous but included products such as nappies and incontinence pads.

Over the last few days, we have covered a lot of ground cleaning across Sandy Bay, Trecco Bay, Rest Bay, Pink Bay, Sker Beach, Newton Beach and Town Beach in Porthcawl.

While we continue to monitor the beaches, a lot of waste has been collected and will be removed from where it is being temporarily stored early this week for processing. It is hoped some of the packages will be able to be recycled.

We would like to thank the public for their help in the clear up operation. While we had urged caution over approaching the products due to them being waterlogged and very heavy, there was a big effort by residents to collect the waste and pile it up neatly which our team then collected as they worked their way across the coastline.

The council’s cabinet member for communities Richard Young