Warning to stay away from shipwreck defied

Richard Weir said the debris became a potential "marine disaster" after being there a few weeks

Much of the wreckage of an abandoned boat, which washed up two months ago, has been cleared despite council advice that doing so could be illegal.

The vessel ran aground on King Edward's Bay, in Tynemouth, North Tyneside, on 10 September. North Tyneside Council previously said it had not removed it because it had to "follow the law" and that it was talking to the boat owner's family.

However, local resident Richard Weir, who led the clean-up, said he felt he had to act because the wreckage was a potential "marine disaster".

The council said it acknowledged the "good intentions" but that volunteers had made the job "more difficult" for its contractors to remove the boat's heavy keel.

Mr Weir said that as the weeks went by and the shattered vessel had still not been cleared, he feared a "marine disaster" triggered by rigging and fibreglass being washed out to sea.

"People use that beach for swimming and surfing," he said.

The boat ran aground on 10 September

Mr Weir said the wait for the local authority to do something about the wreckage had been unnecessarily long.

"To me it was just litter, just debris, and it didn't have any intrinsic value - it needed action," he said.

Mr Weir said he rounded up 12 volunteers earlier this month and put up a poster at the top of the beach with details of the clean-up.

He said the group moved parts of the boat further back so the water could not reach and the task took about four and a half hours.

The clean-up involved using saws to cut the fibreglass into smaller pieces as well unravelling the boat's ropes and sails.

The council has now removed all the debris that the volunteers gathered.

'Job more difficult'

The council also removed the boat's upturned keel earlier this week which had been too heavy for the locals to move themselves.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: "Although the volunteers acted with good intentions in trying to remove it themselves, this made the job more difficult for our contractors.

"Debris remained on the beach and the keel could not be lifted safely once it had been separated from the hull.

"Our contractors had to return with an excavator to complete the work properly.

"For everyone's safety, we strongly advise leaving this kind of work to the trained professionals."