Worthing Pier litter bin found washed up in Germany

Bin-credible journey: After six months at sea and 450 miles, the bin was recovered on the shores of a German island

A rubbish bin thrown from the end of a pier in West Sussex has washed up about 450 miles away - in Germany.

Vandals in Worthing launched the public receptacle - which bore the town's crest - into the English Channel.

After an estimated six-month journey it washed up on the shore of the German island of Borkum.

Frerk Richter, who found the litter bin last month, contacted Worthing Borough Council and told them he had transformed it into a flower container.

As well as displaying Worthing's coat of arms, the bin is also inscribed with the Latin: "Ex terra copiam e mari salutem."

A Google search of the phrase would reveal its links to the town, a council spokeswoman said.

'Not common'

Frerk Richter, who lives on the island in north-west Germany, said he cleaned the bin with a pressure washer.

"It now looks great," he said.

"I then put it in our garden, put a plant in it and my daughter finished it off by adding a birdhouse to the top."

A spokeswoman for the council said: "Thankfully it's not common for our bins to go missing or get thrown into the sea.

"As far as we know this is the only one."

The litter bin needed a clean-up after an estimated six months at sea

Now restored, it has been recycled as a feature in a German garden

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