As a beachcomber Sean Clarke is used to unusual finds, but even he admitted he would rather not have stumbled across an urn.

Sean took to Facebook yesterday after finding the pot near an outfall pipe on Westbrook Beach in Margate.

He later told KentOnline: "I was out beachcombing with my metal detector when I came across it as the tide was going out.

"At first I thought it was one of those containers that the bodybuilders get their whey mixture in to help build them up. It was only when I got up to it and noticed the partial remains of the sticky label on the screw lid that the penny dropped."

Although Sean did not open the container, he said he gave it a push with his foot, adding: "it had sea water inside, but also felt 'weighty' at the bottom of the urn, as if it had sand or sludge in at the bottom.

"I went back passed it a few hours later and someone had removed the top and emptied it. I couldn't see anything that looked like remains, so maybe the ashes had already been scattered.

"Even so, it's not the sort of thing you want to find on a beach."

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