This man and his dog are walking the entire coastline of Britain – and picking up rubbish as they go

Wayne Dixon and his dog, Koda, are walking the entire length of the UK coastline, bagging up any rubbish that they find along the way.

Originally from Lancashire, the pair have dedicated the past three years of their lives to cleaning up rubbish that the rest of us have carelessly left behind.

On Wednesday, May 22, Wayne and Koda arrived in Portsmouth, cleaning up Eastney beach with the help of Bird Aware Solent – which raises awareness of coastal birds that spend the winter in the region – and The Final Straw Solent, an anti-plastic campaign run in association with The News.

Wayne said: ‘Litter isn’t just an eyesore, it’s a genuine threat to animals, birds and marine life.

‘I have seen small mammals trapped in disposable coffee cups and witnessed porpoises and birds along beaches, some entangled in rope and fishing line.’

But Wayne says that things are starting to improve, as awareness of what we’re dumping into our oceans starts to spread.

‘When I started out on my journey I would walk through big cities and regularly collect 10 or 15 bags of litter,’ he said.

‘In the past six months I’ve seen a dramatic change, I recently walked through a city and only collected half a bag.’

Bird Aware Solent is overseen by the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH).

Chairman, Cllr Sean Woodward, said: ‘The dangers of litter in the ocean are very real, especially with microplastics entering our food chain. The influence and positive effect individuals and local groups, like Wayne and The Final Straw, are having on the environment cannot be understated.’