The amount of plastic ending up in the ocean is set to treble within a decade unless action is taken, a major report has warned.

Senior Government scientists have said that full damaging effects of seaborne plastics is not yet known, but that it could be aiding the spread of bugs such as E.coli.

Plastics is one of a number of environmental issues facing the world's seas, along with rising sea levels and warming oceans, and metal and chemical pollution, the Foresight Future of the Sea Report for the Government said.

But it predicted there were also opportunities for the UK to cash in the global "ocean economy" - which is set to double to £2 trillion by 2030 - in areas where the country is a world leader, such as offshore wind.

The scientists behind the report warned of the danger of the oceans being "out of sight, out of mind", with more known about the surface of Mars and the Moon than the deep sea bed.

The report found there were "major opportunities" for robotics, artificial intelligence and automated technology to fill gaps in understanding of ocean science.

Work is also beginning on the impacts of plastic in the ocean, as experts are not sure what threats it poses, Professor Ian Boyd, chief scientific adviser for the Environment Department, said.