West Sussex team spirit praised in banana container clean-up

Fragments of metal, pieces of insulation foam and plastic remain on West Sussex beaches after 11 shipping containers containing bananas and avocados washed ashore.

Communities praised the “team spirit” of volunteers and contractors as the clean up continued at Bognor Regis, Selsey and Pagham Harbour, after the containers fell overboard from the Baltic Klipper cargo ship in the Solent shipping channel on 6 December.

West Sussex County Council said six containers have been removed, but Gavin Jones who lives on Selsey seafront said there were “bits of metal poking up through the sand”.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch said the containers might not have been properly secured.

Seven containers washed up in Selsey, two at Pagham Harbour and two at Bognor Regis.

Selsey Beach Little Ninjas are among those who have helped with the clean-up operation.

Mr Jones told BBC Radio Sussex: “Two weeks ago I looked out of my kitchen window and there was something floating in the sea… it turned out to be a container.

“A couple of hours later it was smashing itself against the sea wall at the end of the garden. It’s gradually dissolved into really big pieces.”

He added that cleaning up other beaches had been slightly easier because of better access.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do here… but [the volunteers and contractors] are doing a fantastic job,” he said.

The clean up operation had “pulled the community together… it’s been a fantastic team spirit,” said Mr Jones.

However, the ongoing clean-up has had a negative impact in terms of safety risks and pollution, he added, with the Selsey Sea Bathers swimming club cancelling their winter solstice sea dip on Sunday “because of these bits of metal that are still poking up through the sand”.

“It’s going to be a bit dangerous – the sand is absorbing these bits of metal, every time I look it seems they’ve sunk in a little further,” he said.