Perranporth whale salvage machine overwhelmed by sea

A mission to salvage a dead whale on a Cornwall beach was abandoned after a telehandler broke down.

The telehandler, with a hydraulic hoist, was attempting to drag the 2.5m-long pilot whale up Perranporth beach when it got overwhelmed by the tide.

The machine, which belongs to the Watering Hole pub on the beach, was soon submerged on 26 December.

No-one was hurt and the telehandler was hauled up the beach by a digger the next morning.

An electrical fault is thought to have caused the breakdown on the tractor which is used to maintain the beach.

The telehandler is shown almost submerged after breaking down

Pub director Tom Job said the machine may be salvageable.

"It's been done on Land Rovers before, you have to take them apart," he said,

"But it's a very complicated machine and it will be a hard process."

The telehandler is used to maintain the beach

Mr Job posted on Facebook that it "pretty much puts the icing on the cake for 2020".

He added: "Every day something out of the ordinary happens here, but no-one got hurt and there have been no leakages into the sea.

"It's bad news but you have to always look on the bright side, especially with this pandemic."

The whale carcass can be seen in the far left of the picture with the stricken telehandler