A RENTED Range Rover has just been removed off the protected Walney sands after trespassers got it stranded.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust staff were left appalled after a group of three young men trespassed at South Walney Nature Reserve, driving illegally onto the reserve, across a protected beach and onto an area populated with seals.

The men, who were believed to be from the Midlands and on route to Scotland, ignored the ‘no entry’ signs and removed a log barrier to gain access on Sunday.

This afternoon a tractor has pulled the vehicle off the sands and it is to be collected by a car rental firm.

The trust has said that oil has been left on the sand and vegetation has been seriously damaged at the reserve after the

South Walney Nature Reserve is protected under several conservation designations. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area.

Cumbria Police has been informed.

The trust is calling for people to have more respect for our natural wild places.

Sarah Dalrymple, the South Walney warden, said: “It is illegal, dangerous and damaging to take cars onto the sands. There is damage to the vegetated shingle from the vehicle itself."

The warden said there would be further damage from the vehicles removing the car.

She said: “I am appalled that some people think this is acceptable behaviour. The police are now dealing with the matter.”

Walney South county councillor Frank Cassidy said: “I understand the vehicle has now been removed and the police have responded brilliantly.

“I hope this idiotic behaviour is dealt with appropriately and prosecutions are considered.”

The driver has damaged the vegetated shingle beaches in Lighthouse Bay which are an unusual wildlife habitat and where an individual community of striking plants has developed over hundreds of years.

Plants, yellow horned-poppy, sea campion and biting stonecrop all grow here. In spring birds such as oystercatchers and ringed plover will nest on the shingle beaches and could be affected by the oil and petrol leaking from the vehicle if it cannot be recovered.

There is no access to the beaches at South Walney Nature Reserve for vehicles or visitors all year around, in order to prevent disturbance to the seals and the breeding and wintering birds. Beautiful public beaches can be visited at the north of Walney Island at Biggar Bank and West Shore.