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Southern Water is conducting an inquiry after millions of contaminated plastic beads appeared on Camber Sands beach, raising fears of a potential "ecological disaster".

These biobeads could have a dire impact on marine life, as stated by a regional representative, with concerns that protected marine species, including seabirds, porpoises, and seals, might ingest them and die.

A local official believes the pellets may have been released from a local filtration facility and has sent a letter to the top official, demanding an account.

Camber Sands, located in East Sussex, is one of England’s most beloved beaches, known for rare dune habitat and vast stretches of golden sand.

Local helpers have been racing against time to clear the beads, collecting dozens of bags with the plastic waste, but the scale of the pollution spill is vast, and it is unlikely they will be able to remove all of them.

A representative from a plastic pollution campaign group commented over the weekend, "This represents the most severe contamination incident I have ever witnessed. It is polluted polymer. Marine animals will ingest small plastic items once they are in the ocean; they will attract algae, they will smell like food, in essence."

"After ingestion, there's no turning back: they cannot expel it. They will float on the surface. It will form a layer which draws in plunging seabirds."

He added that the removal work have been draining. "Yesterday, I was on site cleaning it up. We are trying to accurately reconstruct the timeline and the details for this devastating incident. It’s awful."

"The pellets are minuscule that from a very long way off, the beach looks normal. But as soon as you get close up, you see there are millions black pellets, nestled under seaweed. It’s an unachievable mission – volunteers have been working tirelessly, and they will continue to rake, but we cannot remove every pellet. It is the most severe I have ever seen of a polluted beach."

The local MP, who joined the clean-up efforts, remarked, "The huge number of polymer pellets that have washed up here risks an ecological disaster. These biobeads are deadly to ocean and land animals, and we are already seeing more dead seals, fish and porpoises on the coast."

"Community members are working tirelessly to clear away as many pellets as possible, but it’s a race against time. The water company must quickly determine if their nearby treatment facilities could be the origin of these biobeads, and I’ve requested to dedicate all available resources to aiding the removal efforts in the meantime."

These pellets are also dangerous to dogs as they hold a significant amount of PAHs, which are known to have carcinogenic properties, and they often contain toxins including heavy metals, metalloids, and bromine.

A spokesperson for the water company stated, "We are working closely with the regulatory body and local council to look into the cause of plastic beads which have washed up on Camber Beach. This investigation work is ongoing."

"Local officials is overseeing removal of the beach, using trained personnel with a specialized machinery to remove the beads. We are additionally assisting with the removal process."

"We have performed water-quality sampling on the coast, which has revealed no effect to the aquatic environment. This data has been provided with the district council and the Environment Agency."

The Environment Agency has been contacted for comment.