A mum-of-three has described the amount of litter washing up on the beach as an eco crime.

Mia Newbury, who lives in Shellness at the east end of Sheppey, has been picking up rubbish on the Island for 12 years, but has noticed the amount of it has recently increased.

She picks up plastic that has washed up on the beach every time she goes out – which is at least a few times a week.

The 57-year-old said: "It's really bad and has been going on for years and years.

"I can easily fill up a few supermarket bags each time I'm out – I drag them along in absolute agony. The strong winds recently have made it a lot worse.

"There's rubbish everywhere, thousands of different packets, the other day there were loads and loads of tomato packets and I'm convinced they're coming from the Isle of Grain because there was a sticker on one of them from there."

Mia's family have lived on Sheppey since 1723.

She said: "I was born on this Island and my ancestors were here 300 years ago. I'm just horrified that it's got to this point and something needs to be done about it.

"It's devastating what's happening out there. I just pick up the big pieces but there's still so many small pieces around the place.

"It's not just us, I think all of north Kent is affected by it. It's a joke and someone is responsible."

A council spokesman said: "We know people have concerns about litter on their streets, which is why we have a dedicated barrow out collecting litter in Sheerness High Street every day, as well as a barrow working around Marine Town from Monday to Friday.

"We also have a small team of officers who monitor the waste street cleansing contract who raise any issues with the contractor as and when they are identified.

"They cover a large area and are unable to monitor all areas all of the time so any help from residents reporting areas of concern is greatly appreciated.

"Cleaning areas adjacent to busy roads can be problematic and may require additional control measures such as road closures or traffic management to resolve.

"This is both costly and inconvenient to road users, which is why we try and target the source of the problem as well.

“In the last calendar year we issued 228 fixed penalty notices for litter offences. These are mainly for smoking related litter, which is the most frequently littered item, but this is meant to act as a deterrent to people who might otherwise drop their rubbish on our streets.

"Litter dropped from cars is a big issue not just in Swale but across the country.

"If someone witnessed someone discarding litter from a car, or even better if there was dash cam footage, and people were prepared to make a statement, then we would welcome people getting in touch so we can follow it up on this with a view to issuing a fixed penalty notice if possible."