PRIMARY school children have created an art exhibition to raise awareness about plastic in our seas.

Southend Council recruited 300 children from Chalkwell Hall Junior School to create the exhibition at the Forum calling on people to take action to reduce the use of plastic.

It is part of the council’s initiative to reduce the amount of plastic we use. Ten more primary schools will take part in the initiative over the coming year thanks to the programme Energy Challenges.

Mark Flewitt, cabinet member for public protection, said: “As a seaside town with eight miles of beaches, our town’s residents, communities and businesses can play a major role in helping to reduce the volume of plastic that enters our oceans.

“Experts fear that, by 2050, there could be more plastic in the oceans than fish. If that isn’t a wake-up call for us all, then I don’t know what is.

“That’s why it’s so important that young people in Southend are learning and engaging in this topic, as ultimately, how we treat our oceans today will have a direct impact on the condition of the oceans when they are adults.”

Energy Challenges will provide funding for the Young People's Trust for the Environment to work directly with pupils and help them understand what action they can take to reduce their use of single use plastic.

There will be opportunities for local businesses to support schools by sponsoring a litter-picking kit, which will be used by pupils to keep their school grounds, local parks and beaches litter-free.

During last years' Great British Beach Clean - organised by the Marine Conservation Society - volunteers gathered 255,209 pieces of litter, including 3,540 plastic bottles, 2,674 cans and 11,154 plastic bottle tops from British beaches, finding on average 718 pieces of rubbish for every 100m stretch of beach that was cleaned.