Women's rugby players to drag van wreck from beach

An environmental charity has enlisted women's rugby players to help haul an abandoned van away from a beach in Cornwall.

Locals alerted Clean Ocean Sailing to the mangled Mercedes vehicle which had been left at the bottom of Polpeor Cove's slipway for more than eight weeks after being swamped.

The charity used a 50-year-old VW campervan called Cecil to pull the wreck above the high tide line but said it was not powerful enough to tow the wreck away.

A date for the operation has yet to be set, but volunteer and former rugby player Kate Green said a friendship with the Cornish Pirates meant 30 "Cornish - all women - rugby players are on standby to give a hand to Cecil in his final effort".

The charity, whose mission is to keep Cornwall's coasts pollution-free, said volunteers spent three days emptying the van which was "partially buried, filled with rocks, sand and rotten seaweed, it was too heavy and impossible to move".

Volunteer Clarissa Love said: "We were shovelling sand, removing rocks and the interior of the van, including a very stinky toilet, insulation, and thousands of polystyrene bits.

"We removed the roof, back doors, seats, anything and everything to make it lighter and possible to move up the slipway away from the coming high tides.

"As well, we collected even the smallest pieces from the beach around us to not negatively affect the environment."

Clean Ocean Sailing founder Steve Green said: "The fuels and oils are an immediate risk. But, over a bigger amount of time, obviously, it smashes up into tiny pieces and all the plastics and insulation and all of that is obviously a risk to wildlife.

"It's a popular tourist destination as well, and the last thing you want is a big hunk of rusting metal on the beach."

He said "30 super strong lasses" from the Cornish Pirates had already taken part in a practice run ahead of the wreck removal, by pulling Cecil at the Cornwall Women's Cup tournament in Penryn.

"We put Cecil the Combi on the steep ramp to the carpark with all the brakes on and the girls dragged him off the slipway there as a practice run," he added.

The charity said it would work with the women to prepare a strategy on how to safely get the remains of the van away from the narrow slipway and up the steep hill together.

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