Get rid of rust bucket

MY wife and I have just returned from a week in North Devon where we especially like the Fremington Quay area with its well kept paths and the views over the estuary.

Pat, who is confined to her wheelchair, can use her camera to record these views and keep them in her mind for that rainy day that prevents her from accompanying me and our dog on our walks.

However, this time our visit was very much spoiled by the sight of a rusting hulk beached and seemingly abandoned on the foreshore some 100 yards from the quay where I believe she had been moored a couple of years ago.

This vessel appears abandoned now as she lies shorn of her anchor and chain, life rafts, rudder and propeller with the tail shaft having been removed. How can this be allowed to happen?

Surely there is some regulation about abandoning such a rusty and derelict hulk on the shore? Is English Heritage not aware of this? I believe there are dangers that come with leaving such a rusty container abandoned. It probably no longer contains lubricating oils, but could still have a considerable amount of residue ready to escape as soon as the rust advances far enough to allow pin holes to appear.

I hope that when we are next in the area the responsible people — either the local councillors or English Heritage — will have removed this vessel to a suitable scrapyard.

I seem to recall a paper that was circulated to me when I was a councillor in Exmouth that laid out the matter of stranded vessels on the foreshore. Isn't it against the law to deliberately abandon vessels so to avoid paying dock fees or mooring charges? Perhaps this could be a way to ensure the removal of this hulk.

RON ROBERTS,

Littlemead Lane,

Exmouth.