The National Parks and Wildlife Service has launched an investigation into who ploughed a protected Donegal beach.
An area more than 250 metres long by 50 metres wide was tilled on Murvagh beach near Donegal town. The beach is conserved under the EU Habitats Directive A wildlife ranger yesterday consulted local landowners in a bid to trace the offender, who can be prosecuted.
A spokesman for the service said: “It’s the first time something like that has been done on Murvagh, which is a special protected area for birds and is also a special area of conservation.
“We have heard of people ploughing on beaches elsewhere to clear rust or to teach someone to plough.”
The ploughed stretch of beach was close to another part where thousands of small marine life was washed up earlier in the week because of an algal bloom, or red tide, off the coast.