YOUNG eco warriors took part in a groundbreaking project on Thursday to recycle broken bodyboards to help reduce beach pollution.

More than 40 children from Newquay Junior Academy worked alongside volunteers to deconstruct dozens of discarded polystyrene bodyboards as part of the Bodyboard Breakdown event.

The bodyboards, which have been collected over the summer from recycling stations installed at South Fistral, Porth and Towan, were stripped down to their component parts for safe recycling by national environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.

The expanded polystyrene part will be melted down and used for packaging and blocks for building whilst the nylon will be recycled for art projects.

Mayor Cllr Drew Creek, Cornwall Council chief executive Kate Kennally, former UK bodyboard champion Rob Barber, Karl Fice-Thomson from Big FT’s Rock Pool Adventures as well as councillors and representatives from environmental groups were among those taking part in the event.

Mr Barber and Mr Fice-Thomson highlighted the critical importance of choosing high-quality, reusable bodyboards over cheap, disposable alternatives due to safety reasons in the surf and its harmful impact on the marine life as well as on humans when it enters the food chain.

The event marks a significant escalation in the ongoing campaign led by Newquay Clean, a coalition including Newquay Town Council, Cornwall Council, the Newquay Marine Group, and local councillors to protect the local environment and enhance water safety.

Cllr Creek plans to meet with local retailers to try and persuade them to stop selling the polystyrene bodyboards and instead stock more durable alternatives.

Cllr Creek said: “These boards are really harmful to the environment as the bits of polystyrene are harmful to the marine life and end up in the food chain.

“It is also a safety issue. We’ve all seen people trying to ride these boards on the ferocious waves in Newquay and on the first ride they break. What we hear from the RNLI is they are one of the biggest reasons why they have to dive in and rescue people because the board has broken or the lease has snapped.”

Loic Rich, the Cornwall Council cabinet member for the environment and climate change, added: “Plastic pollution is a really big problem.

“We are just beginning to understand the issue and importance of its damage on human and animal health.

“Plastic is getting into our food is the next big issue we have to deal with if not already.”

Newquay Central Cornwall councillor Joanna Kenny said: “The children have been absolutely fantastic. It took them about 10 minutes to take apart 80 boards that we can recycle.”

Teacher Warrick Murphy added: “It’s important that we are teaching children to use good quality bodyboards for sustainability reasons and due to the damage to the environment the cheap polystyrene boards cause.”