Satellites are being used to help curb plastic on British coasts for the first time under a government scheme to give free access to high-resolution images from space.

The UK Space Agency’s ‘Space for Smarter Government Programme’ (SSGP) will allow emergency services, government departments and councils to view their neighbourhoods from the sky, to help them plan transport, monitor flooding risk or combat air pollution.

As part of the project the Environment Agency has already begun using satellite images as a tool to monitor plastic pollution off Britain’s shores so it can get clean-up teams to the right places to protect wildlife.

Each year around 380 million tons of plastic are produced globally and at least eight million tonnes end up in the sea. Without urgent action, plastic will outweigh fish by 2050, according to estimates.

The scale of plastic in British waters was revealed in January when Storm Eleanor churned up debris floating in the sea and dumped it on beaches, with experts calculating there was enough to fill 35 large refuse bins for every mile of coastline.

Science Minister Sam Gyimah said: “This is a great example of how we can use great British innovations to help tackle challenges facing us now and in the future.”