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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 "environmental catastrophe".

These biobeads could cause severe harm on marine life, as stated by a local MP, with apprehensions that rare sea life, including coastal birds, porpoises, and seals, might ingest them and perish.

The area's representative believes the pellets may have been released from a local filtration facility and has written to the water company's chief executive, demanding an account.

This coastal area, located in East Sussex, is a highly popular shoreline, featuring unique sandy ecosystems and vast stretches of golden sand.

Volunteers have been racing against time to clear the pellets, filling dozens of bags with the plastic waste, but the extent of the contamination event is immense, and it is improbable they will be able to clear every piece.

An expert from a environmental organization remarked recently, "This is the worst pollution event I have ever witnessed. It is contaminated plastic. Marine animals will ingest small plastic items once they are in the ocean; they will attract algae, they will smell like food, in essence."

"Once they’ve eaten it, that’s it: they can’t get it out. They will remain buoyant. It will form a layer which draws in plunging seabirds."

He added that the clean-up efforts have been exhausting. "Yesterday, I was out there cleaning it up. We are trying to really piece together the sequence of events and the story for this horrendous event. It’s terrible."

"The pellets are minuscule that from a a distance, the shoreline looks normal. But as soon as you approach closely, you see there are countless dark beads, nestled under seaweed. It’s an unachievable mission – helpers have been raking for days, and they will continue to rake, but we won’t be able to get rid of them all. It is the worst I have ever seen of a polluted beach."

The local MP, who participated in the clean-up efforts, remarked, "The immense quantity of plastic beads that have appeared on this shore risks an environmental catastrophe. These biobeads are lethal to ocean and land animals, and we are already seeing more dead seals, fish and porpoises on the coast."

"Community members are laboring diligently to clear away as many pellets as possible, but it’s a race against time. 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 also dangerous to dogs as they contain a high number of PAHs, which are recognized for cancer-causing traits, and they frequently include toxins including heavy metals, antimony, and bromine.

A spokesperson for Southern Water said, "We are collaborating with the regulatory body and local council to investigate the source of polymer pellets which have been deposited on Camber Beach. This investigation work is still in progress."

"The district council is leading the clean-up of the shore, using trained personnel with a specialized machinery to extract the beads. We are additionally assisting with the clean-up."

"We have performed environmental testing on the beach, which has revealed no effect to the aquatic environment. These results has been shared with the district council and the regulatory body."

The Environment Agency has been reached out to for comment.