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Southern Water is currently investigating after millions of contaminated plastic beads appeared on the shoreline at Camber, sparking worries of a possible "environmental catastrophe".

The plastic pellets could cause severe harm on marine life, according to a local MP, with apprehensions that rare sea life, such as seabirds, porpoises, and seals, might ingest them and die.

A local official suspects the pellets may have been spilled from a local filtration facility and has written to the top official, demanding an account.

This coastal area, located in East Sussex, is a highly popular shoreline, featuring rare dune habitat and expansive areas of golden sand.

Local helpers have been racing against time to remove the beads, collecting multiple sacks with the synthetic debris, but the scale of the pollution spill is vast, and it is unlikely they will be able to remove all of them.

An expert from a plastic pollution campaign group commented over the weekend, "This is the worst pollution event I have ever witnessed. It is contaminated plastic. Sea creatures will ingest small plastic items once they are in the sea; they will draw in microorganisms, they will smell like food, in essence."

"After ingestion, that’s it: 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 really piece together the sequence of events and the details for this horrendous event. It’s awful."

"They are so small that from a a distance, the beach appears unaffected. But as soon as you get close up, you see there are millions dark beads, nestled under seaweed. It’s an impossible task – volunteers have been working tirelessly, and they will continue to rake, but we won’t be able to get rid of them all. It is the worst I have ever seen of a polluted beach."

The elected official, who joined the clean-up efforts, remarked, "The immense quantity of polymer pellets that have washed up here threatens an ecological disaster. These biobeads are deadly to marine life and wildlife, and we are already seeing more dead seals, fish and porpoises on the beach."

"Community members are laboring diligently to remove as many beads as possible, but it’s a race against time. The water company must urgently establish if their local wastewater plants could be the source of these pellets, and I’ve asked them to dedicate all available resources to aiding the removal efforts in the interim."

The beads are additionally hazardous to dogs as they hold a high number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known to have carcinogenic properties, and they frequently include harmful substances such as lead, antimony, and chemical elements.

An official representative for Southern Water said, "We are collaborating with the regulatory body and district authorities to look into the cause of plastic beads which have been deposited on the shoreline. The inquiry is still in progress."

"Local officials is overseeing removal of the beach, using trained personnel with a specialized machinery to extract the pellets. We are also supporting with the removal process."

"We have performed environmental testing on the coast, which has shown no impact to environmental water quality. These results has been shared with the district council and the regulatory body."

The Environment Agency has been reached out to for a statement.