Last updated 13:56, Friday, 21 November 2008

VOLUNTEERS are furious after rubbish they collected at a beauty spot was torched.

CLEANED UP: The litter at North Walney and students from Penrith who helped with the North Walney beach clean SUBMITTED PICTURE

The Furness and South Cumbria BeachCare Group spent hours picking up the litter at North Walney Nature Reserve on Saturday.

The rubbish was then left out on the reserve for Barrow Borough Council to take away.

But arsonists got their hands on the litter before the council workers.

The pile was set on fire and scattered across the beach.

Matt Sanderson, who leads the group, said he was disgusted.

Mr Sanderson said: “Around 30 volunteers spent hours picking up 400kg of rubbish and to have someone come along and do that is very disheartening and disappointing.”

The litter is believed to have been torched on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

Barrow police and Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service did not attend.

Susannah Bleakley, from the Morecambe Bay Partnership, said: “All the litter was carefully arranged for collection by the council but, before that could happen, someone set it alight, causing the plastic to melt and much of the glass and metal to be scattered around the site.

“The vegetation and an adjacent fence were also scorched. The resultant mess took over an hour to clear up on Monday morning.”

As well as regular volunteers, the group at Saturday’s clean-up also included staff and students from a school in Penrith.

Police said the fire had not been reported to them. The group organises regular meetings and has so far collected five tonnes of rubbish left on the beaches around Morecambe Bay this year.

For more information about BeachCare and the Morecambe Bay Partnership, contact Susannah Bleakley on 01539 735900.