Rotting weed is causing a stink

Visitors are having to walk through the rotting seaweed to reach the sea

Visitors to one of Kent's beaches are having to wade through rotting seaweed before they reach the water because it is against the law to move it.

Over the past few days tonnes of seaweed has been washed up in Minnis Bay, near Margate.

But the local council has said it cannot move it from the blue flag status beach because of a European law which protects the nearby reefs.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said they were looking at a solution.

It is estimated that it would cost Thanet District Council up to £300,000 to take the 6,000 tonnes of seaweed that wash up in 12 bays each year to landfill sites.

It does seem a ludicrous rule Councillor Sandy Ezekiel

The authority used to move the weed to other bays but that is no longer allowed as the coastline is now protected under European law.

Councillor Sandy Ezekiel said: "It does seem a ludicrous rule, however I'm not the powers up there that say this is wrong or that is right.

"What we do need to be doing is working closely with the environment agency to get this problem sorted."

Andrew Ogden, from the Environment Agency, said: "The problem is that much of the Thanet coastline is actually protected under the European habitats directive.

"What is actually protected are the chalk reefs so we need to ensure that the seaweed isn't deposited on those reefs where it would cause environmental damage."

The Environment Agency said it was working with Thanet District Council to develop a long term sustainable solution to the issue.