A Scottish beach was handed a strange Christmas present last month, when 250 used car tyres washed up on the shore.

Many worn tyres were discovered in Granton several days before Christmas, with no official explanation as to how they got there.

Flytipping is currently the most likely reason behind the strange arrival, reports The Scotsman.

Several tyres were covered in barnacles, indicating that they had been in the sea for a while. The tyres were soon cleared up by local residents, who placed them together at the top of the beach.

Jan Baker - who helped arrange the clearance - described the situation as "bizarre". She said: "Where did they come from? And why do they have to end up on our beach?"

The council's North Team had been contacted to inspect the tyres, and have since claimed that the beach by Granton Harbour belongs to the Crown Estate, which needs to arrange for the tyres to be collected.

However, due to the busy holiday period, the Crown Estate is still looking into whether it actually owns the land in which the tyres were found.

City deputy leader Steve Cardownie said that he hoped the tyres would be removed as soon as possible.

He said: "Someone will have to get this sorted out as soon as possible because Wardie Bay is a site of special scientific interest which prevented it from being developed many years ago.

"As a key part of the city it's imperative that these tyres should be removed as soon as possible. Now it's been brought to my attention I will raise it first thing in the morning and I don't care which agency does it."

He added that it was "strange" for so many tyres to wash up in one go, and said that a ship may have lost some of its load.

"It seems as though the tyres have been collected for a purpose," he explained.

"It's maybe an accident that a load has come loose on a vessel and that's why they have washed up in one current. If they have been lost from a ship it might be possible to trace which vessel it was and see if they can be punished.

"But it may be that they have been dumped in Forth and the current has washed them in. There's no doubt that 250 tyres is a significant amount and mystery surrounds how they came to be here. But it's a mystery we will no doubt solve in the following days."

Tyres are not allowed to be used as a landfill, and are required by law to be recycled or reused.

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