A SPONSORED walk along the Dorset coast to raise money for an expedition was not enough for Weymouth gap year student Teresa Donohue.

She went one further and demonstrated her commitment to the environment by picking up rubbish on the way.

Teresa admitted to being shocked by the amount of litter she collected, filling 34 bin liners between Weymouth and Lulworth Cove.

Almost half of them were filled at Durdle Door where Teresa and her friend Lucy Emery worked for five hours and faced a gruelling climb up steep steps with the bags.

Former Weymouth College student Teresa, 18, will work as a volunteer and live with locals during a five-week trip to Nepal and Tibet later this month in an expedition organised by the not-for-profit organisation Greenforce.

She has to raise money to fund the trip and the sponsored walk and litter pick was one of her ideas.

It was completed over three days and as well as Lucy, Teresa also asked mum Florence along for support.

Teresa said: “Many people mistook us for working for the council or community service but were very interested in what we were doing.

“There are no doubt plenty of people who do take their litter home with them but the amount we collected really was shocking and shows that sadly, although some of the debris is washed in from the sea, most of the rubbish is undoubtedly left by beach-goers.

“It is a shame that some people endanger these beautiful areas by leaving behind their rubbish.”