Shocking images show McDonald’s balloons washed up on coastlines around the world - at a rate of nearly one a day.

Campaign group Blue Planet Society compiled the images to lobby the fast food chain to scrap balloons in addition to ditching single use plastic, such as straws.

But founder John Hourston, 52, says it has been met with resistance - and claims the balloons are more damaging than any other form of plastic waste.

Balloons from British branches of McDonald’s have washed up across the North Sea, as far away as the coastlines of Belgium and Germany.

A balloon rests in the sand (
Image:
Blue Planet Society / SWNS.com)
Campaigners say the rubber balloons are more harmful than any other form of plastic waste (
Image:
Blue Planet Society / SWNS.com)

John said: “Balloons are going from Manchester and Liverpool and being swept across to the beaches of Belgium, Holland and Germany.

“We’ve collected 300 images in about a year, nearly one a day. They end up in the stomachs of seabirds, turtles, whales and dolphins.”

A collection of the shocking images (
Image:
Blue Planet Society / SWNS.com)
A burst balloon washed up on the shore (
Image:
Blue Planet Society / SWNS.com)
Balloon stuck in grass (
Image:
Blue Planet Society / SWNS.com)

One balloon had been marked with a message from Dundee, Scotland - but ended up flew 370 miles away in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

A spokesman for McDonald's said: “Our priority remains to provide our customers with the correct messaging on waste disposal and ensure we play our part in keeping the environment litter free.”