Beaches in Sussex are among the cleanest in the UK according to a new report.

However the results of the Marine Conservation Society's annual Beachwatch survey show large amounts of litter are still being found.

The average amount of litter discovered on 18 beaches around the South East coast was 1,604 per kilometre, making them cleaner than the year before when 1,847 pieces of rubbish were found.

It was also the lowest rate in the UK, which had an average of 1,988.

The Beachwatch 2006 study was done over two days last September with 318 Sussex volunteers inspecting beaches at Brighton, Cuckmere Haven, Eastbourne, Seaford, St Leonards, Southwick, Shoreham, Worthing, Ferring, Bognor, Littlehampton and Selsey.

Items found on beaches across the region included cotton bud sticks, crisp and sweet wrappers, pieces of plastic and cigarette butts, which campaigners fear may rise even higher when the new smoking ban comes into force in July.

Other common pieces of rubbish making up the top 20 list of items found included plastic caps and lids, plastic drinks bottles, pieces of glass, metal drinks cans and fishing lines.

Individual people are the biggest culprit, with beach visitors responsible for 33.9 per cent of the litter found.

A long way behind was fishing debris at 11.2 per cent, sewage/sanitary waste at 10.4 per cent and shipping litter, two per cent.

The conservation society is calling for a UK wide environmental education campaign to change people's litter dropping and flushing habits.

Litter projects coordinator Emma Snowden said: "Cotton bud sticks and other sewage related debris on our beaches are not just unsightly to look at but the majority of these products are made of plastic which persist in the marine environment for many years.

"This should be such an easy environmental issue to resolve and yet the message is still not getting across. everyone must take responsibility to bag it and bin it, never flush it.

"These items are an all too persistent and common form of pollution in the marine and coastal environment, causing damage and harm to wildlife and human interests.

"Cigarette butts were not among the top twenty items back in 1994 however they are now the eighth most common item on UK beaches.

"Everyone needs to be aware that dropping cigarette stubs is an act of littering and is illegal and you can be fined anywhere from £50 to £80.

"People's habits must change and it is up to everyone to act responsibly by not dropping litter in the first place."

Beachwatch is the flagship event of the society's Adopt-a-Beach project, which encourages volunteers to clean and survey their local beach on a regular basis to identify the sources of litter.