Shipwreck's heavy keel still to be removed

Richard Keir says the keel needs to be removed as it poses a risk

Specialist equipment will be needed to remove the sunken, heavy keel of a shipwrecked boat after the rest of the debris was cleared, a council has said.

The vessel ran aground on King Edward's Bay, in Tynemouth, on 10 September and was on the beach for several weeks while North Tyneside Council tried to contact the boat owner's family.

Locals defied council advice to stay away and cleared debris except for the keel which was too heavy to move.

The council said initially it believed every part of the boat had been removed after a worker carried out a visual check and could not see the keel which was hidden under the tide. It said it was working with contractors to remove it "safely".

Tynemouth resident Richard Weir, who led the volunteer clean-up, said the keel presented a "massive" risk to beach-goers.

"If someone was swimming and got washed on to that, it would cut them in half," he said.

"It's got to be moved - we can't have a three-week argument about this."

The boat ran aground on 10 September

The council said the keel had sunken deeper into the beach and its contractors needed bigger machinery to dig it out.

It did not give a timeline for the removal.

A spokesperson said: "The council wants the same outcome as our residents and visitors, which is the safe removal of the entire vessel.

"We are working with contractors to do this as quickly and safely as we can."

'Separated from hull'

Mr Weir also disputed the council's claim that volunteers had hampered the wreckage clear up.

The local authority had said that while it acknowledged the "good intentions" of volunteers, they had made the job harder for its contractors.

It said this was because the keel could not "be lifted safely" after being separated from the boat's hull.

But Mr Weir said the keel had already been separated from the hull, when volunteers took action.

He also said they had made the council's job easier by cutting the boat up into small bits so they could be transported away more easily.

The local authority declined to comment on these specific points.