A boat dumped at a Minster beauty spot is itself being used as a dumping ground.

The 10ft wooden vessel was discarded in the car park of Thistle Hill Community Woodland.

Nearby resident Karen Lyne saw it dropped off about a week ago.

The 29-year-old said: “There were two quite well-built men in a white Transit van with a trailer with the boat on it.

“I couldn’t see any rubbish, I think someone came later probably to take advantage of an empty vesselshe did say this believe it or not.

“I didn’t get the registration because I was just driving past. They just stopped by with a boat on the back, you don’t often see that sort of thing.”

When the Times Guardian visited the scene last week, there was an assortment of waste inside the craft including a mattress, bits of wood, carpet and food packaging.

There was also a plastic container that looked like it was used to store fuel.

The side of the boat had the word Pacer on it which is believed to be the manufacturing name.

Norman Sells, 68, of Poppy Crescent, Minster, notified the council after coming across the eyesore when he was walking his dog on Thursday morning.

He said: “It looks like it has been sitting in someone’s front driveway for years looking at the state of it.

“If anyone knows, or can identify this boat, we might be able to find who dumped it there.”

A spokesman for Swale council said: “The boat was reported by an Environment Warden on 1st August at 12.24, the job went straight to Verdant for clearance.

“There was no evidence found on investigation.”

It is not yet known whether the council intends to try to prosecute whoever was responsible for the flytipping, or whether teams had managed to clear the site.