An Oswestry schoolteacher and her daughter have launched a viral social media campaign to support the work of legendary naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

Mandy and Becky Price’s #doitfordavid has been shared 125,000 times with the number growing every hour.

It has even been shared on every continent apart from Antarctica.

Mandy, who is an art and drama teacher at Oswestry School, commented: “I can’t believe how positively this campaign has been received around the world.”

The campaign began on Christmas Day as Mandy was walking along a beach with her family which was littered with plastic.

She had been doing two-minute beach cleans for some time, but had no idea how extensive the problem of plastic was until she watched Blue Planet Two, and in particular the programme called The Plastic Whale and how plastic is impacting marine life.

Working with Becky the pair were thinking of how they could spread their message when they remembered Sir David Attenborough asking people to address the problem at the end of the Blue Planet Two series and hoped that if they wouldn’t do it for them, they might just do it for him.

Mandy continued: “The Facebook page has been receiving photographs from lots of different people who are collecting plastic, even from holidaymakers in Cuba who have seen the posts and have recorded their own two-minute beach clean on the beautiful beaches there.

“The support we are receiving reaffirms my belief in the human race and makes me hopeful that we can change the current state of the oceans and protect the wildlife that live within the seas.

“I hope that, if Sir David should hear about our efforts, he would be proud to have ignited this global response to his plea.”

Mandy has given an assembly at Oswestry School to let pupils know how they can help to make a difference and she has been contacted by teachers from other schools asking advice on doing the same.

The school has a community action group and these children have been out in Oswestry town centre picking up plastic and litter since returning to school in January.