A COMMUNITY stalwart has appealed for smokers to be more considerate after spending more than two hours vacuuming cigarette butts up at Concord beach.

Colin Letchford, chairman of the Friends of Concord Beach group, regularly takes to the beach and surrounding area with other members of the group to clear litter and debris, but was shocked by how many cigarette butts he found during a recent clean-up.

He said: “There are so many cigarette butts lying around, they are everywhere. It’s just a bit ridiculous. They are really hard to pick up with a litter pick so I spent two-and-a-half hours vacuuming them up.”

Mr Letchford, 69, of Maurice Road, Canvey, has even considered buying pocket ashtrays to give out.

He said: “It would only be a small thing to carry but it would make a big difference.”