A whale washed up on a Kent beach has now been removed.

Experts have just left the scene after police were called at 8.39am today by a member of the public who had reported seeing the whale washed up at Epple Bay, Birchington.

The whale is described by Marine Life Rescue and Coastguard experts at the scene as a young adult male Norwegian Minke.

It is believed to be around 24ft long, but it is not yet know how it died.

Jon Brooks, area co-ordinator at British Divers Marine Life Rescue, which was called to the scene in the hope of rescuing the whale if it had been alive, said the mammal was removed from the beach early this afternoon.

He said the body had been quite badly battered where it had hit the rocks overnight.

There were no obvious injuries, but a cause of death would need to be determined at post mortem, he said.

The post mortem examination is due to be carried out by the Zoological Society tomorrow.

Did you see the whale today? Did you take pictures? Send us your snaps to multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk