A MINKE whale washed ashore at Hartlepool has been removed from the beach.

It's thought the 18ft, five-tonne whale had got into trouble after being caught up in lobster pots near Saltburn up to two weeks ago and its body had been drifting around off the coast of Hartlepool.

There have been reports that the whale's body had been hacked, but that may have been down to samples being taken by the Zoological Society whose officers have been working with Hartlepool Borough Council.

The animal, which was about 18ft long and weighing five tonne, was removed by the council's neighbourhood officers at 7.30am this morning (Friday).

Councillor Marjorie Richardson, chair of the council’s Neighbourhood Services Policy Committee, said: “We used specialist equipment to lift the whale onto a trailer and the operation took around three hours to complete. It is now being taken to John Warren, a specialist animal by-product company in Bishop Auckland.

“This is by far the biggest animal that the council has had to remove for a very long time and I would like to thank the officers involved for dealing with it in such a sensitive way.”

Rebecca Lyal, the Cetacean Stranding Officer at the Natural History Museum, said: "The minke whale currently stranded near Hartlepool was first seen floating offshore by a local whale watching boat, and we were alerted that it may strand nearby.

"Depending on the condition and accessibility of strandings, we may take tissue samples to help decide on what caused the death. In this particular case, the whale is already in a fairly decomposed state, which can make the tissue very difficult to analyse.

"However, as the whale was initially found entangled in lobster pot gear, inferences can be made about what happened to it before it died."