Students from Sidmouth College have started to counter the sea’s efforts by collecting the flotsam and jetsam that washes up.

The sixth formers had to match their timetable with the movements of the tide, and found the beach relatively clean when they arrived last Wednesday.

They decided to clear wood debris, and some of the driftwood will be used in the school’s Sidmouth in Bloom and Chelsea Flower Show entries for the year.

The rest of what was collected was taken by the district council to be shredded and composted. Helen Preston, the sixth form tutor who led the project said: “The whole exercise should be an environmental triumph in every respect.”