OFFICIALS have warned that it could take months to clear piles of timber which fell from a cargo ship and have now drifted onto Scottish beaches along the east coast.
Tonnes of timber planks have been washed ashore in the weeks since they fell from the cargo Ship Fresian Lady and were carried off by the sea.
Coastguard officials have warned that it is illegal to take the planks, while Police have said it could be dangerous to do so.
However, reports have circulated on social media of some of the timber being taken away and turned into garden sheds and fences.
The planks were first reported to be heading for Scotland in March after 'packets' containing hundreds of lengths of wood were washed into the sea in severe weather.
The wrecked material has been spotted on beaches between Eyemouth in the Borders and St Andrews in Fife, but is mostly concentrated to East Lothian.
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The local authority said that it had removed some of the flotsam from popular beaches, including 400 planks from Yellowcraig beach alone, and that the ship's owner had employed a contractor to help with the recovery work.
The Countryside ranger service have also been tasked with removing the planks, but the job appears to have become bigger than first realised and now it is estimated that it will be many weeks before all beaches and shorelines have been cleared.
A spokeswoman for east Lothian Council said: "Packets of timber were apparently lost off a cargo vessel the Frisian Lady early in March. These packets have split and individual planks of timber began to be washed up on the East Lothian coastline a couple of weeks later.
"During the first lot of timber being washed ashore the council began to remove planks from the popular beaches.
"Unfortunately more planks have continued to be washed in and some of the more environmentally sensitive areas of the coastline have been affected and some of the timber is currently inaccessible."
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She added: "We currently estimate that in some of these areas it may be another couple of months before vehicles will be able to collect and remove from these inaccessible areas."
Chief Inspector James Jones of Police Scotland urged members of the public not to attempt to salvage any of the timber themselves.
He said: “Some areas of our coastline can be dangerous, with strong tides, deep water and rocky areas. Do not put yourself at risk by trying to recover any of the timber yourself – contractors who are brought in to clear the timber away have been trained to deal with such situations and have the equipment to do so, please leave it to the professionals.”
HM Coastguard said that under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, all recoveries of wreck material - which includes timber lost from a vessel at sea - must be reported to the Receiver of Wreck.
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Failing to report removal of wreck to the Receiver is a criminal offence.
Alison Kentuck, Receiver of Wreck for the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, said: “Our biggest concern is to make sure that members of the public don't put themselves at risk attempting to retrieve any timber. The timber will not be suitable for use as a building material as it's been saturated with salt water.
“It is not a case of finders’ keepers, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency is continuing to work alongside the P&I Club and the local authorities to offer support for the clean-up operations. If members of the public see any timber washed ashore, this can be reported to the Aberdeen Coastguard Operations Centre."
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