A grandmother has spent an entire year cleaning every bit of plastic off 52 British beaches after making a New Year's resolution.

Pat Smith, 70, trawled Devon and Cornwall's iconic beaches armed with bin bags, rubber gloves and a little picker after she vowed to clean one sandy beach every week.

The married mother of two travelled from one end of the South West to the other, collecting litter in beauty spots from Coverack, Cornwall, to Blackpool Sands, Devon.

And Mrs Smith has no intention of stopping - saying that the beaches need her.

Pat Smith, 70, (pictured) trawled Devon and Cornwall's iconic beaches armed with bin bags, rubber gloves and a little picker after she vowed to clean one sandy beach every week

Two black bin bags filled by Mrs Smith on one of her beach cleans. She has pleaded with beach goers to be more thoughtful in the coming year

Mrs Smith said a lot of the rubbish she picks up are everyday items. She said: These things are used by all of us and it is shocking to find them polluting our beautiful beaches

Mrs Smith, founder of the environmental campaign group Final Straw Cornwall, said: 'Doing 52 beach cleans in 2018 was my New Year's Resolution and it's finally done.

'I won't stop as our beaches need me.

'A lot of the rubbish I have picked up consists of everyday items. These things are used by all of us and it is shocking to find them polluting our beautiful beaches.

'Please let's try to be more thoughtful in this coming year.

'I'm driven to try and protect our living planet for my children and grandchildren and I will continue to do everything in my power to achieve that.'

Mrs Smith, pictured on one of her litter picks, is founder of the environmental campaign group Final Straw Cornwall

The mother of one during one of her beach cleans last year. She told how she is joined by other volunteers who are determined to keep beaches clear of rubbish

Mrs Smith said she was urged to take action after noticing the effects of plastic pollution, and she reflected back on her life.

She said: 'I grew up in the generation where plastic use was at it's worse. I lived through that, yet I lived the life campaigners are pushing for now.

'Even though it was everywhere, we had no plastic at home - we would walk to the shops or get the bus to get groceries.'

Mrs Smith said that she was often joined by other volunteers who were determined to keep our beaches clean.

Mrs Smith said during litter collections she has been mistaken for someone carrying out community service

Another haul of plastic rubbish collected during a clean. Mrs Smith said she was urged to take action after noticing the effects of plastic pollution

Mrs Smith said that she was often joined by other volunteers who were determined to keep beaches clean

But she said not everyone understood, and on some occasions, she would be mistaken for doing community service.

She said: 'People don't understand I've been doing this voluntarily.

'We should all take responsibility for picking up the litter, as well as ensuring we don't drop litter in the first place.'

Along the way, Pat, who also runs a bed and breakfast in St Austell, Cornwall, joined with other campaigners.

She spent time with Martin Dorey, founder of the 2 Minute Beach Clean, and Wayne Dixon, who is walking the UK coast as an ambassador for Keep Britain Tidy.