Sparklers collected from Weymouth Beach after November 5

Volunteer Brian Hallworth, who carries out almost daily clean-ups of the local coastline, said there was a large number of sparklers abandoned on the beach after the November 5 bonfire and fireworks.

Weymouth Town Council workers also collected firework debris but the authority was unable to disclose how many sparklers were picked up - so the true amount it not known.

However the number collected by Mr Hallworth is well down from the 300 picked up by volunteers two years ago.

Weymouth Town Council did take measures to ensure that people disposed of their sparklers safely by placing designated orange buckets in the area on the night of beach fireworks.

Mr Hallworth said: “I collected 143 sparklers in just one day from around the area of the beach bonfire. I even picked some up from the pavement before I even got onto the beach.”

Mr Hallworth explained that this is on par to previous years, adding: “For every one that I find, there are probably one or two more hidden under the sand. They are ever so difficult to find as they are black or silver and there’s only about one or two inches that stick out of the ground.”

As well as environmental risks, Mr Hallworth - known as the 'Sheriff of the Seashore,’ - also raised concerns about people injuring themselves by standing on the debris.

As well as his usual haul, the litter picker also came across two firework rocket shells.

Brian Hallworth (Image: NQ)

A spokesperson for Weymouth Town Council said: “We would like to thank the residents and attendees of the recent firework display for their responsible participation in the event. We were pleased to see that many people used the designated buckets to properly dispose of their sparklers.

Some of Brian's sparkler haul (Image: Brian Hallworth)

“The council is committed to maintaining the cleanliness of our award winning beach and following the event our team carried out a comprehensive post-event clean. This included litter picking by our staff on the evening, followed by a full clean-up the following morning.”

In 2022, volunteers at the Weymouth and Portland Marine Litter Project collected around 300 sparklers from Weymouth Beach – however they were unable to attend this year.

Some of the litter Brian also collected (Image: Brian Hallworth)

As reported by the Echo firework debris was also strewn across the beach at Bowleaze Cove on the lead-up to Bonfire Night.

The outer casings of ‘rocket’ fireworks ended up along the shoreline – with environmentalists warning that these could potentially still have traces of ‘toxic chemicals inside.