Don't loot timber, public warned

The vessel Sinegorsk issued an alert in rough seas at 8.15am on Monday after it shed up to 1,500 tonnes of its sawn timber load around 14 miles off the coast of Newhaven, East Sussex.

Since then, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency monitored the timber as it drifted steadily in a north-easterly direction towards the Dover Strait.

Large amounts of the wood came ashore on the coastline between Pegwell Bay, Ramsgate and Margate in the early hours of Thursday morning.

A Dover Coastguard spokesman said: "We received a report from a fisherman a mile east of Broadstairs to say there's a massive amount of it there. He said he'd never seen so much wood in his life.

"Our concern is that people may try to take the wood. If they wade in to recover it they are putting themselves in real danger as the sea is so rough. The legality of what they are doing also needs to be questioned. They must realise it is someone else's property."

He added not all the timber had yet come ashore and there could still be a considerable amount drifting out at sea.

Kent Police warned people against trying to remove any of the timber from the beaches.

Area Commander for East Kent Chief Superintendent John Molloy said: "I would like to remind people that the shoreline can be a dangerous place, particularly with the current poor weather and people could be putting themselves at unnecessary risk by venturing into the sea to salvage the timber.

"This cargo remains the property of the original owner and to steal it is not only foolhardy, but also a criminal offence."