Archaeologists are battling time and tide to examine a sunken collier ship exposed on a North-East beach for the first time in seven years.

The 18th century vessel, almost identical to the famous Endeavour that Captain Cook used to circumnavigate the globe, will only be visible for two or three weeks on Seaton Carew beach, near Hartlepool.

Revealed again by changing tide patterns, the ship's hull, internal planks and the remains of masts are clearly visible.

Scientists are now battling to glean all they can from rare glimpse of a ship that has been declared an Historic Wreck - one of only 43 dotted round Britain's coast. Robin Daniels, of Tees Archaeology, explained that this ship would have ran aground during the East coast trade run that took coal to London and the Continent from Newcastle and Sunderland. He added: "This type of collier was actually as common as muck, so no-one would have bothered to preserve one. "However, they were the backbone of the North-East sailing fleet and incredibly robust. After all, Captain Cook used two of them on his voyages. They were exactly the same as this one." Tees Archaeology has now been granted a licence to work on the vessel. Mr Daniels added: "We will continue to make a record of the site. We also want to take wood samples from the wreck so we can date the trees used to make the ship. "We are literally in a battle against time and tide though - we have to move quickly before it is submerged for another seven years or so." The team already know a great deal about this particular boat. It's about 80ft long by 20ft wide and would have been used to carry between 30 and 100 tonnes of coal. Gary Green, who specialises in maritime history for Tees Archaeology, said: "Quite why it was wrecked here we do not entirely know. It does seem likely however that it was driven aground by a storm. "There is some damage to the ship's hull that would suggest a storm battering. Alternatively it could be where locals tried to open a hole to get at the coal."