A ‘Turning the Tide’ eco project prevented the equivalent of 19,000 single-use plastic bottles from being thrown out as rubbish during Plastic Free July.

The claim comes from BCP Council and environmental charity City to Sea.

It follows analysis of data from five of 15 newly installed water dispensers on the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole seafront.

The data revealed that 9.5 cubic metres of water was drawn from the five units which were installed during July.

That’s the equivalent of 9,500 litres or 19,000 500ml bottles.

In total, the ‘Turning the Tide’ project has seen 150 water refill points revamped and unveiled.

Free drinking water is offered along the 15-mile stretch of seafront.

It includes 18 seafront kiosks, more than 130 beachfront taps and 15 newly decorated ‘Hydration Stations’.

The launch of the project was celebrated with the unveiling of a community art project at the lifeguard building at Durley Chine, pictured.

Created by Paintshop, it depicted sea life and eco-messages about how refill and reuse can avoid plastic pollution.

The unveiling coincided with live performances every Saturday along the beachfront by street artists.

They were aimed at inspiring and directing visitors and residents to refill from the new water fountains and beachfront taps.

They also handed out free reusable water bottles to those that needed them making sure no one would go thirsty.

Jane Martin, City to Sea’s Head of Development, pictured left, said: “Through Plastic Free July we’ve been monitoring the new water Refill points across the seafront in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch and we’ve seen a flood of people refilling their bottles.

“We now have data from five of the 15 newly installed water fountains which shows we have stopped 19,000 single-use plastic bottles from entering our waste stream.

“This is a huge achievement.

“Hundreds of people have downloaded the Refill app and we have recorded over 9,000 people using the ‘Superhero Tap’ next to Happy Land.

“I am delighted to see the team’s hard work paying off already.

“Going forward no pebble will be left unturned as we work out how we can eliminate plastic pollution from the beachfront.”

Cllr Mark Anderson, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Place, pictured right, said: “This last month has really shown what can be achieved when the council, civil society and business all work together.

“With over a million people visiting our seafront in July we are normally inundated with mountains of rubbish.

“But this Plastic Free July we’ve managed to make a real dent in this problem, thanks to the 150 hydration stations we’ve put in along the seafront through our partnership with City to Sea.

“This initiative is one of many to reduce litter on the seafront.

“Last year, we installed extra triple-sized bins along the promenade and put in place more daily collections, with manual crews on standby when the locations such as the promenade become busy.

“I want to pay tribute to the many businesses along the seafront who have really got on board with what we are trying to achieve along the seafront and also thank the council beach cleaning teams who work hard to keep our resort tidy.

“This is a community effort that we are proud to be leading.”