Clean up operation to remove timber

A massive operation to collect hundreds of pieces of timber which were washed ashore on beaches in north Suffolk is almost complete.Large sections of Southwold beach were covered in pieces of wood which had been brought in by the tide on Friday morning, and the timber soon appeared along the coast at Lowestoft and reports later came in from as far north as Hemsby, near Yarmouth.

A massive operation to collect hundreds of pieces of timber which were washed ashore on beaches in north Suffolk is almost complete.

Large sections of Southwold beach were covered in pieces of wood which had been brought in by the tide on Friday morning, and the timber soon appeared along the coast at Lowestoft and reports later came in from as far north as Hemsby, near Yarmouth.

Although some of the wood was taken by members of the public, contractors worked through the weekend to clear the remaining timber from the beaches.

A spokesman for Suffolk Coastal District Council said that the last few bits of wood on Southwold beach were cleared away yesterday morning.

A Waveney District Council spokesman said: “Smaller amounts still remain between Southwold and Lowestoft and this will be removed in due course, depending on access to the affected area of beach.”

About 1,500 tonnes of timber broke free from a Russian-registered cargo ship off the Sussex coast a fortnight ago while it was on its way to Alexandria in Egypt.

Although it is not an offence to take the wood from the beach, scavengers could still fall foul of the law if they fail to register their finds with the Receiver of Wreck.