Following the loss of shipping containers off the Pembrokeshire coast earlier this week, a variety of items continue to wash ashore including buckets, plant pots, rice packets and bags of apples.

Responder organisations are working together with the cargo owners and the shipping representative to daily assess the extent of the problem and to implement a clean-up operation and the removal of materials.

The coastline affected stretches from Newgale on the west coast of Pembrokeshire to Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, in the east.

Organisations and the shipping representative recognise and commend the efforts of voluntary organisations such as Keep Wales Tidy, the National Trust and local community groups – together with individual members of the public - who continue to clear materials off the beach, often in challenging conditions.

Voluntary organisations will publicise organised beach clean-up events during the festive period via social media sites.

This support has been, and continues to be, invaluable and has helped reduce the impact on the environment.

During the ongoing clean-up operation, it is requested that items are left at the top of the beach for the authorities to collect and to dispose of appropriately.

It should be remembered that all the washed-up items have an owner so anything recovered should be reported to the Receiver of Wrecks, however small or seemingly insignificant it may be.

Members of the public with anything to report relating to washed-up materials should contact their local authority with a description of the location and, if possible, an image of the item found.