Octopus found in Scafell Pike litter pick

The octopus on Scafell Pike, England's highest mountain at 3,209ft (978m)

The body of an octopus has been found during a litter pick near the top of England's highest mountain.

Dave Ascough, 43, from Stockport, leads mountain walks and found the 20cm (8in) cephalopod mollusc 10m (33ft) from the top of Scafell Pike in Cumbria.

He said: "My first reaction was that someone might have carried it up there, but it's quite possible a bird could have brought it up there."

Volunteers removed 10 bags of rubbish from the mountain during the pick.

Traffic up Scafell Pike is increased by the Three Peaks Challenge, which sees thousands of people attempting to scale it along with Ben Nevis in Scotland and Snowdon in Wales within 24 hours.

He added: "The mountain does attract a lot of people climbing it for a challenge as opposed to the experience of being in the mountains and that adds to the problem.

"People in the dark think 'nobody can see me throwing away a bottle', so unfortunately it does attract a lot of litter."