A dead sheep was found floating off of the beach at West Bay by swimmers.

The sheep was found around 20 metres off East Beach by a group of early morning sea swimmers at around 7.30am on Friday, September 6.

They then dragged up to the harbourside bins and then reported to Dorset Council for removal.

Pete Brown, aged 74, swims in the sea off West Bay daily. He is the one who dragged the sheep onto the shore after spotting it in the water. He said: "It was floating about 20 metres offshore by the rocks.

"We thought it would be the nice thing to do if we pulled it in and got it out and disposed of - otherwise it would have floated around all day and that doesn't look good.

"It was bloated and I dragged it onto shore by one of its hooves and then two others dragged up the beach to the bins."

Pete and his swimming group believe that the sheep most likely fell from a nearby cliff.

He added: "It is the only thing we can think of because you don't see sheep going swimming or even having access to the sea."