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The water company is currently investigating after a vast number of contaminated plastic beads appeared on Camber Sands beach, raising worries of a possible "ecological disaster".

The plastic pellets could cause severe harm on marine life, as stated by a regional representative, with apprehensions that rare sea life, including coastal birds, porpoises, and marine mammals, might ingest them and perish.

The area's representative believes the beads may have been spilled from a local filtration facility and has sent a letter to the water company's chief executive, demanding an account.

Camber Sands, situated in the southeastern region, is a highly popular shoreline, known for rare dune habitat and vast stretches of fine grains.

Volunteers have been working urgently to clear the pellets, collecting dozens of bags with the synthetic debris, but the scale of the pollution spill is vast, and it is unlikely they will be able to clear every piece.

A representative from a environmental organization remarked over the weekend, "This is the worst pollution event I have ever seen. It is contaminated plastic. Marine animals will consume tiny synthetic pieces once they are in the sea; they will draw in microorganisms, they will appear edible, effectively."

"After ingestion, that’s it: they can’t get it out. They will remain buoyant. It will form a layer which attracts diving coastal birds."

He added that the clean-up efforts have been draining. "Yesterday, I was on site removing the debris. We are trying to accurately reconstruct the sequence of events and the story for this horrendous event. It’s terrible."

"They are so small that from a a distance, the shoreline looks normal. But as soon as you approach closely, you see there are countless black pellets, hidden among marine plants. It’s an impossible task – helpers have been working tirelessly, and they will keep at it, but we cannot remove every pellet. It is the most severe I have ever encountered of a contaminated shoreline."

The elected official, who joined the clean-up efforts, stated, "The immense quantity of plastic beads that have appeared on this shore threatens an environmental catastrophe. These biobeads are lethal to marine life and wildlife, and we are observing increased mortality among marine species on the coast."

"Local residents are laboring diligently to clear away as many beads as possible, but it’s a urgent effort. Southern Water must quickly determine if their nearby treatment facilities could be the source of these biobeads, and I’ve asked them to commit every possible asset to supporting the clean-up operation in the meantime."

The beads are additionally hazardous to canines as they contain a high number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known to have cancer-causing traits, and they frequently include harmful substances such as heavy metals, metalloids, and bromine.

An official representative for Southern Water said, "We are working closely with the regulatory body and district authorities to investigate the source of polymer pellets which have been deposited on Camber Beach. The inquiry is ongoing."

"The district council is leading the clean-up of the beach, using specialists with a vehicle with suction equipment to remove the pellets. We are also supporting with the removal process."

"We’ve conducted water-quality sampling on the coast, which has revealed no effect to the aquatic environment. These results has been provided with the district council and the Environment Agency."

The Environment Agency has been reached out to for a statement.