CONCERNS over dangerous fishing tackle washing up on the beaches have been raised by Sidmouth residents. Mark Gold and Sharon Howe were walking on Jacob s Ladder beach on Monday morning when they found a discarded piece of fishing tackle buried in the sand

CONCERNS over dangerous fishing tackle washing up on the beaches have been raised by Sidmouth residents.

Mark Gold and Sharon Howe were walking on Jacob's Ladder beach on Monday morning when they found a discarded piece of fishing tackle buried in the sand.

When they pulled the line out of the sand they found the multi-pronged hook was still attached, along with a dead fish. This is not the first time they have found hooks and fishing lines on the town's beaches.

Mr Gold said: "We find it every time we are on the beach. It's been getting steadily worse over the last year or so.

"There are more and more fishermen and they just throw the unwanted tackle over the side."

Miss Howe said: "There really needs to be something restricting how they can get rid of their unwanted tackle.

"We are finding this all the time and we want to discard it but, if we just put it in the bin, then that all goes to landfill and it could harm the wildlife there as well. There really is a disposal problem."

The walkers expressed concerns over people swimming in the summer when fishing tackle was in the water and also the dangers hooks would pose to children and animals playing on the beach.

An East Devon District Council spokesman said: "There is currently no legislation governing fishing from beaches, as already exists with rivers.

"If anyone walking on the beach finds discarded fishing materials, we would ask that they ring the council to report their findings and we will send a member of our StreetScene team to clear the beach as quickly as possible."

The StreetScene team can be contacted on (01395) 517528.