Message in bottle for the masses

Stuart Conway says he has thrown almost 3,000 bottles off the pier

Messages from people all over the world are being cast into the sea off Brighton Pier by a man who runs a "message in a bottle" website.

Stuart Conway, from Brighton, has thrown almost 3,000 messages in bottles off the pier over the past nine years.

People contact him through his website where they can enter their messages and even state their preferred bottle type.

He asks anyone who finds a bottle to contact him but only 10 people have got in touch since he started.

The furthest Mr Conway knows one has travelled is Holland but he said he hopes others have floated much further afield.

It's a pleasure running the service, the messages are positive and when they are found it's usually fun and a nice thing to find Stuart Conway

Two weeks ago he got an e-mail from a woman in France with an attached photo of a bottle her daughters had found in the sand on Trouville beach in Normandy.

Mr Conway, who does not charge customers, said: "It's a pleasure running the service, the messages are positive and when they are found it's usually fun and a nice thing to find."

He said he is "delighted" when he hears from people who have found the messages because it means the bottles have "fulfilled their purpose".

Among the vessels people can choose on the website are spirits bottles, 100ml plastic spring water bottles, green wine bottles "with a cork", one pint beer bottles and camera film canisters.

There is also the option of a "biodegradable bottle, made from compacted seagull food" or an "unusual bottle (approximately five in stock)".

Friends of the Earth said the environmental impact of throwing the bottles into the English Channel was not enough to cause major problems.