Pictures of the wreckage

A beach was closed yesterday after hundreds of tons of timber were washed ashore.

It fell from the deck of the Ice Prince before the freighter sank in rough weather off Portland Bill in Dorset on Tuesday. Planks were piled several feet deep on the tide line at Worthing, West Sussex. The clear-up is expected to continue for most of the week.

Timber was also washed ashore along a seven-mile stretch east of Selsey Bill, East Sussex. Fred Caygill, spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, said: “Pockets of timber have been coming ashore in certain areas, but Worthing was hit the hardest.”

Alison Kentuck, the Receiver of Wreck, said that some people had arrived with vans intending to steal a large quantity of timber. “We are trying to keep it to a minimum,” she said.

Ian Lowrie, chief executive of Worthing Council, said that the timber posed a risk to windsurfers and kite surfers. “If they hit timber at the speeds they go, it could be very nasty. We have handed out leaflets warning of the dangers, and put notices on surfing websites,” he said.

Efforts were being made to assess whether more of the cargo would be coming ashore. The timber is being monitored in the English Channel and small boats have been warned of the dangers of looking for the lost cargo.

The Greek-registered Ice Prince, measuring 328ft (100 metres), sent out an emergency call at 7pm last Sunday. Twenty crew were rescued by helicopter and lifeboat in storm conditions after the cargo shifted and she listed to 40 degrees.

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