Hundreds of voices are joining a campaign which will help The Argus's call to Keep Glass Off The Beach - and many belong to one man.

TV impressionist Alistair McGowan was today visiting Brighton to encourage youngsters to help clean up dirty and dangerous beaches.

Visitors to Brighton's seashore have been shocked by the number of razor-sharp glass shards, particularly after Fatboy Slim's beach party last month.

And Mr McGowan, famous for impersonating celebrities including David Beckham and Richard Madeley, echoed their concerns ahead of launching the Environment Agency's BeachBeat campaign by the Palace Pier.

The pollution watchdog says beach litter is an eyesore, can injure people and kills tens of thousands of marine creatures and birds each year.

The views echo those of The Argus.

BeachBeat is urging young people to collect information on beach litter and feed the results into the agency's database.

Mr McGowan said: "Beach litter is completely avoidable and we can all make a difference. We're calling on young people to help during the summer holidays."

An Environment Agency survey found only seven of the 79 beaches in their Southern region were "very good" and deserved A grades.

Sixty were judged "good" and given B grades, while eight were graded C, or "fair", and four were graded D, or "poor".

Sussex had just two A-grade beaches, Winchelsea in East Sussex and Selsey in West Sussex, compared with six last year.

Brighton beach improved, going from poor in 2001 to good this year.

But Pevensey Bay, graded A last year, was Sussex's only D-listed beach this time round.

The number of A-grade beaches nation-wide fell from 68, or 14 per cent of the total number, in 2001 to 52, or 11 per cent, this year.

So far, a number of groups, parents and beach-goers have lent their support to The Argus campaign.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said the authority was "wholeheartedly" behind it.

Angela Howard, regional director of The Keep Britain Tidy Campaign, said people should take heed of the message before they suffered serious injury.

And Helen Humphries, of the Marine Conservation Society, said animals were also threatened by discarded trash.

For more information about the BeachBeat campaign, log on to www.beachbeat.co.uk