A buoy which went adrift from Fowey in Cornwall and washed up on Chesil Beach is on its way back home.

The picture here was taken by Cliff Rogers from Abbotsbury as the buoy was being recovered from the shoreline near the village.

His picture shows the buoy as it was being retrieved by the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service salvage vessel Salmaid.

Mr Rogers said: "The buoy originates from Fowey and broke away from its moorings in the recent gales.

"It caused quite a stir down here as it drifted in upside down which gave it the appearance of a liferaft from a boat.

"Someone dialled 999 because, like me, they thought it was a liferaft, but the closer it got we could see it was a buoy and we phoned the coastguard to tell them.

"When they came to remove the buoy it only took them about half an hour to get it and they were gone.

"It is the first time I have seen one of these things up close and the size of it was amazing."