Schoolboy beachcombers who made a film of their efforts to litter-pick at the seaside were stunned to find themselves on a top ten shortlist for a national award.

Equipped with a bin bag and accompanied by a buffeting wind twins Zach and Kyle LePique, aged 12, are seen collecting rubbish on the beach at North Denes.

The effort is part of a regular sweep to tidy up the area around their dad’s cafe at the scenic Waterways in Great Yarmouth.

And their message is clear: “We have done our bit, now you have to do yours.”

Their video and Powerpoint presentation left hundreds of others trailing to come fourth in their age group in a competition aimed at learning about and taking part in marine conservation.

The Caister High School pupils travelled to Plymouth to collect their glass award and certificate where they were shown around the national marine aquarium and enjoyed demonstrations and talks about the problems of beach litter.

The competition was staged by Marlisco, a European project aimed at tackling the threat of marine litter, and saw entrants from all over the UK including the Hebrides and Northern Ireland.

The boys’ film showed them gathering rubbish from the beach and pointing out the dangers and problems to people and wildlife.

Among the detritus was plastic bags, empty cans, crisp packets, artificial flowers and even a dog toy which they collected in just a few minutes - the time it took to make the two minute film.

Their dad Craig LePicq, who runs the cafe at the Waterways in Great Yarmouth, said the boys were used to cleaning up the area and did regular sweeps of the beach.

The whole experience was hard-hitting as well as fun and engaging, he said, adding: “They were really chuffed. In fact I think if they realised they could have got so far they would have tried a bit harder. They did it all off their own backs but it was very windy that day and you can hear that in the video. We are really pleased for them.”

Mr LePicq said the experience had heightened the boys awareness and desire to help. “We could do a beach clean here every day of the week,” he added. “The worst thing is the beer cans and wine bottles. There is a real trend to smash bottles on the beach at the moment which is bad for dogs and everyone.”