Condoms, period pads and plastic bags were found amongst a disgusting mess washed up at a popular Welsh beach. Swimmers from the Newton Buoyant Bluetits cold swimming group described the scenes at Newton Beach in Porthcawl as the "worst" they had seen.
Conditions meant the group, which meets at the beach daily, were unable to enter the water on Tuesday and for several days after. Group member Brenda Murphy said it was upsetting to see so much waste polluting the sea and shore.
She said: "We got into the water and were astounded at the amount of rubbish, sanitary towels, condoms, plastic bags, sweet wrappers and litter. You name it, everything was there. The sea was full of it. It was on an industrial scale and we've never witnessed anything like it before."
READ MORE: Home overlooking one of Wales' top beaches for sale for first time ever
Brenda took pictures of the mess to raise awareness of the discovery on social media. Although they are not sure what caused the rubbish, she said it could be an example of flytipping.
She said: "We are aware of sewage alerts, but we weren't warned about this despite the scale of it. The scale of it was hard to get into photos. It was pretty horrific."
She said people in the group join because of their love of nature, as well as the positive impact cold water swimming has on their mental well-being. It meant the sight and potential impact on the natural environment was "devastating" for members.
"It's soul destroying", she said. "We get so many benefits from this and we are now in a position where we come out of the sea feeling less positive about things than before we went in."
Wendy Broom co-founded the group. She too said she had "never seen anything like it". She said: "The water was so full of rubbish you couldn't see into it, it was so murky. There were about a dozen fishermen out that day as part of a mental health group and they were appalled by it. We weren't able to get into the water for three days. It has affected everybody."
