More seabirds have been found covered in oil off the south coast of Devon.

The South Devon Seabird Trust has already taken in 18 birds found at locations across the South Hams, at Dawlish and Teignmouth.

The Trust's founder, Jean Bradford, said there have also been sightings of at least 30 dead birds.

Oil has been washing up at a number of beaches in Devon and Cornwall since Wednesday.

Illegal cleaning

Mrs Bradford is urging anyone visiting the affected beaches to take an old towel with them in case they discover a stricken bird.

"If they do find one, then if they catch it in a old towel and take it home, they can call us and we can arrange for one of our volunteers to pick it up," she said.

She added that all the birds taken to the centre so far have been guillemots.

She said: "These birds spend their lives at sea, so they are very vulnerable when an incident like this happens."

One theory is that the thick, refined oil could have leaked from a commercial vessel, or from the illegal cleaning of an oil tanker.

It is not thought to have come from the tanker Prestige which sank off north west Spain last week.