And the cost of all the police that have been deployed to stop all the "whiskey galore" wood thieves from descending on the Sussex beaches. I hope the insurance company is picking up the tab for that cost as well. If not then they should be told to use a private security company not our tax £'s. As this is likely to be coming ashore for weeks to come.

The reason for the over reaction by the police is because of a sinking last year when The MSC Napoli ran aground off the Devon Coast. Scavengers swarmed to Branscombe in search of plunder. Scavenged goods include several BMW R1200RT motorcycles, empty wine casks, nappies, perfume, and car parts. After initially tolerating a "salvage" free-for-all, by 23 January the police had branded the activity of scavengers "despicable", closed the beach, and announced that they would use powers not previously used for 100 years in order to force people to return goods they had salvaged without informing the authorities, pointing out that under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 such actions constituted an offence equivalent to theft.

Gareth