PLANS to create a world-class environmental innovation hub at Bournemouth's Durley Chine have taken a step forward.

It is hoped new hub will be formed, in part, from ocean-harvested plastics and recycled tropical hardwoods.

Council officials say the hub will be dedicated to eliminating single-use plastics along Bournemouth and Poole seafront. It will feature interactive visitor displays, with further interactive touch-points located across 10 miles of coastline.

Bournemouth council cabinet member for tourism, Cllr Pat Oakley, said: "The prospect of delivering the environmental innovation hub is hugely exciting.

"In some ways we are a victim of our own success with the number of visitors we attract to our coast. The hub is a chance for us to develop an imaginative visitor experience, one which highlights the fragility of our natural environment and at the same time instils in people a sense of responsibility for our precious natural environment."

More than 1,300 tonnes of waste is removed from Bournemouth and Poole’s beaches annually. .

The hub would be funded by £2.4m of Coastal Communities Funding.