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The water company is currently investigating after millions of polluted polymer pellets appeared on the shoreline at Camber, raising worries of a potential "ecological disaster".

The plastic pellets could cause severe harm on marine life, according to a regional representative, with apprehensions that rare sea life, including coastal birds, 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, requesting an account.

Camber Sands, located in East Sussex, is a highly popular shoreline, known for rare dune habitat and expansive areas of golden sand.

Volunteers have been racing against time to clear the beads, filling dozens of bags with the synthetic debris, but the scale of the pollution spill is vast, and it is improbable they will be able to remove all of them.

A representative from a plastic pollution campaign group commented recently, "This represents the most severe contamination incident I have ever witnessed. It is polluted polymer. Marine animals will ingest tiny synthetic pieces once they are in the ocean; they will attract algae, they will appear edible, in essence."

"After ingestion, that’s it: they can’t get it out. They will remain buoyant. It will form a layer which draws in diving coastal birds."

The expert continued that the clean-up efforts have been draining. "Recently, I was out there cleaning it up. We are trying to really piece together the timeline and the story for this horrendous event. It’s terrible."

"The pellets are minuscule that from a a distance, the beach appears unaffected. But as soon as you get close up, you see there are millions dark beads, hidden among marine plants. It’s an unachievable mission – helpers have been raking for days, 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 encountered of a contaminated shoreline."

The elected official, who participated in the removal work, stated, "The huge number of plastic beads that have washed up here threatens an ecological disaster. These biobeads are lethal to ocean and land animals, and we are already seeing increased mortality among marine species on the beach."

"Local residents are working tirelessly to clear away as many beads as possible, but it’s a race against time. The water company must urgently establish if their nearby treatment facilities could be the origin of these biobeads, and I’ve requested to commit every possible asset to supporting the clean-up operation in the interim."

The beads are also dangerous to dogs as they contain a high number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are recognized for carcinogenic properties, and they often contain harmful substances including heavy metals, metalloids, and bromine.

A spokesperson for Southern Water stated, "We are collaborating with the Environment Agency and local council to look into the cause of polymer pellets 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 revealed no effect to environmental water quality. This data has been provided with the district council and the Environment Agency."

Regulatory officials has been contacted for a statement.