A DEAD whale has been washed up on a Hartlepool beach.

According to social media reports, the dead whale had previously been towed to the Hartlepool area by a pilot cutter ship in order to keep it out of the way of shipping routes and has today washed up on North Sands.

Hartlepool Coastguard and workers from Hartlepool Borough Council are in attendance and the whale is likely to be moved tomorrow.

The carcass is probably that of a 5metre long creature which had become entangled in lobster pot and other fishing gear several miles off the coast of Saltburn on Thursday, October 1. The whale was dead at that time and was towed further north earlier this week.