Large amounts of oil have been washed up on beaches along the south coast of Cornwall prompting fears that it could have come from the sunken tanker, Prestige.

The county's emergency planning department said it received reports late on Wednesday of oil on Kingsand beach.

There were further reports on Thursday that beaches all along the south coast were polluted. Dead birds have also been found in the Falmouth area.

It is not yet known where the oil has come from.

Wetsuits covered

But county emergency planning manager, Steve Winston, said it is unclear whether the oil has come from the Prestige, which sunk off Spain earlier this month.

And he said plans are already underway for a clean up operation.

"I've got a team out taking samples so we can identify what sort of oil it is.

"We're pretty sure it's fuel oil, which is probably the worst oil we could have because it has to be cleaned up, it isn't something that will go away under its own power," he said.

One resident of Swanpool near Falmouth, Sue Philips, said her son returned home from surfing at the local beach covered in the oil.

"It was all over their fins, wetsuits and bodyboards," she said.