TEN tonnes of World War II anti-tank defences have been removed from a beach near Lymington.

Warnings against swimming at Hordle Cliff have been lifted four months after work started to remove the defences, known as Admiralty scaffolding.

They were partially buried in the sand at Hordle Cliff, just below the waterline, but emerged periodically due to erosion caused by rough weather.

The council has been taking advantage of spring tides to remove some of the defences.

The work was carried out by Kevin Coghlan Plant and Transport Ltd on behalf of the council. Using two 21-tonne excavators, one fitted with a long arm reach, and a dump truck, the work initially focussed on sections of the beach where the material was most extensive.

The long-arm excavator was positioned just above the waterline at low tide (early morning and late afternoon) and reached into the water to lift out the metal and beach material. The second excavator, fitted with a griddle bucket designed like a giant sieve, with a capacity of one tonne, then sifted out the pebbles and sand, retaining the metal, which was deposited in a compound at the rear of the beach for later removal.

The council has previously surveyed the beach and used divers to identify the locations of the underwater metalwork and install warning buoys. Signs have been in place and the public has been warned not to swim.

The survey results were supplied to Citizan (Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeology Network) and the New Forest National Park Authority archaeologist, ensuring a record was kept of this historically significant relic.

The jagged ironwork is the remains of formidable wartime defences placed on the beach by the Wiltshire Regiment in 1940-41, in the face of the very real threat of invasion by German troops. Unfortunately, within two tides of being installed, it had sunk into the beach by 16 inches.

Work to dismantle the defences began as early as 1949, by which time they had sunk by several feet. Over the decades, much of the structure disappeared below the sea bed, but constant coastal erosion causes new sections to reappear regularly. For the last nine years, the council has been removing them as they emerge.