A photograph sent in by an Echo reader reveals an exceptionally low tide on the Fleet Lagoon and in Portland harbour during last week's supermoon, revealing the sandbanks that hug Chesil Beach.

Maurice Purnell took the shot at noon from the bedroom window of his house next door to the Jailhouse Café on Portland.

"I've never seen the tide so low," said Mr Purnell, 73, who has lived on the island for more than 50 years. "You could have walked out to most of the boats on the marina."

According to Marc Smith, Chesil Centre officer of the Dorset Wildlife Trust, the tide was low last week, though not unusually so.

"The extra gravitational pull of the Super Blue Moon on January 31 would have influenced the tide in this wonderful low tide picture, but we do see similar tide heights at different times of the year. There are a range of factors that influence this, including the earth’s spin, gravity, the path of the moon and even the weather, " said Mr Smith.