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A perfectly-preserved crisp packet from the 60s has been found washed up on a beach – underlining the risks plastics pose to the seas.

The bag features a competition to win a trip to the 1968 Mexico Olympics, making it at least 51 years old.

And Charlie Owen, 13, who found it, says it shows “much more needs to be done” to cut pollution in the oceans.

The schoolboy stumbled across the empty roast chicken Golden Wonder bag while walking with dad Steve, 46.

He said: “When I looked closer, I saw it was raising money for athletes in the Olympics in Mexico, so we took it home, Googled it and found it was from 1968.

(Image: James Maloney/Liverpool Echo)

(Image: James Maloney/Liverpool Echo)

“The fact that this packet is older than my dad goes to show how long it takes for plastic to decompose.”

Mike Childs, of Friends of the Earth, said crisp packets were made from “a cocktail of plastics with different layers”.

He added: “We can see from this incredibly well-preserved specimen how long litter is capable of hanging around.”

(Image: James Maloney/Liverpool Echo)

The bag, which cost 5d, 37p today, was found on Rock Ferry beach, near Birkenhead, Merseyside.

It is near to where Antarctic survey ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, is being built.

Charlie, from Port Sunlight, added: “It was ironic I found it just miles from the ship named after a man who has raised awareness about plastic in oceans.”