Timisoara in western Romania on Wednesday inaugurated a 23-metre (75 feet) bridge made of more than 157,000 collected plastic bottles to warn against the devastating effects of litter.

Residents claim the bridge crossing the Bega Canal in the city centre is the largest in the world built from plastic bottles. A commission of the Guinness book of records has yet to decide on the issue.

More than 500 volunteers helped to build the temporary bridge, collecting plastic bottles and assembling them with wire.

"We are trying to beat the world record in order to raise awareness about the enormous quantities of litter dumped every day in the rivers and in the oceans around the world," Radu Rusu from environment right-group EcoStuff told AFP.

"Plastic bottles should not end up in the water, that's our message," he added.

An estimated 10 million tonnes of litter, mostly plastic waste, end up in the world's oceans and seas each year with fatal consequences for many sea species, according to the European Commission.