Former Castaway Ben Fogle helped volunteers keep one of Fife's beautiful beaches safe yesterday.

The star of the BBC documentary about life on the Scottish island of Taransay encouraged people to clean Elie's Ruby Bay as part of a beach rescue project.

The initiative will run throughout the spring and summer across the UK's sandy shores.

Yesterday, volunteers joined Fogle's effort in helping to clear the bay to the east of the popular town, which overlooks the Firth and Forth, of litter with volunteers rewarded by a glass of wine.

Fogle, an adventurer and documentary maker, will be visiting beaches around the UK alongside environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage, giving volunteers the chance to meet "one of the UK's most ardent supporters of the British seaside".

Fogle said: "I'm a huge lover of Britain's coastline, so when I was asked to be the ambassador for the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project I jumped at the chance.

"We have such beautiful beaches here in the UK and during this campaign with Barefoot Wine and Surfers Against Sewage, I'll be asking as many people as possible to come down to one of our events and keep their local beach barefoot friendly."

The 2011 Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project saw more than 1100 volunteers remove 2.5 tonnes of litter from the UK's coastline.