A NINE-year-old from Newquay has made it his mission to collect the nails that left behind by people setting fire to wooden pallets at a local beach.

Armed with a metal detector and a magnet, Antoni has been out removing nails at Little Fistral in an effort to clean the popular beach.

Wooden pallets are regularly used for bonfires, but while the wood burns, the nails holding the pallets together do not. Those nails are being left behind, buried under the sand and becoming a hazard for beachgoers to the Newquay beach.

With the help of his dad and little sister, Antoni has been trying to combat the problem and hopes to continue his work on other beaches across the local area.

Antoni said: “Me and my dad came up with the idea of collecting nails after we saw a massive patch of them on the beach one day.

“We live not too far away from Little Fistral, so we bought a magnet and started collecting them. It usually takes about 20 minutes to collect a whole bucket of nails.

“I may go to different beaches as well at some point as I want to do more of this and spend more time on making beaches cleaner.”

Antoni’s mum, Kasia, added: “We are very proud of him. It is a good cause because there are a lot of kids around and there have been some many pallets that were burned in Fistral and lots of nails left on the beach.

“He goes out with his father and little sister and takes their magnet detector and magnet with them so it’s become like a family day out.”

To follow Antoni’s work, visit the Nails off the Beach Facebook page: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61592453770972