To wonder if this can really be classed as stealing

[bittersweetvictory]

I live at about 2 minutes away from the sea shore and wanted some stones to make a border in my garden, i needed about 20 so went down this afternoon with my son to collect some, i was in the middle of doing just that when an old man came tearing out his house screaming at me that what i was doing was stealing and that if i didnt stop then he was calling the police, i thought he was joking but he kept ranting and raving at me, i took them anyway and told him to go ahead and told him my address, the shore stretches for about 3 mile and there must be about 64848465757 million stones on the shore, is this really classed as stealing ? can the police actually do anything ?

[katz]

i don't think you are allowed to take stones or sand from the beach - so yes it is stealing

[TheOriginalFAB]

I thought everyone knew you are not meant to take stones and shells from the beach. If every one did it there wouldn't be 64848465757 million stones left then, would there?

[CairyHunt]

you are not meant to, but everyone picks up an unusual one ot 2 to take home.

[TheMonster]

You should have been more stealth-like.

[MillyR]

I didn't know this was not allowed. DD puts a few interesting stones and shells in her bucket every time we go to the beach.

I don't see what the issue is unless you are on a beach that suffers from erosion.

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

So are my children not allowed to collect sea glass? I had no idea.

[bittersweetvictory]

would it not just be classed as beachcombing, you are allowed to collect shells and driftwood.

[katz]

i think sea glass and shells are allowed and i doubt anyone would be prosecuted for taking a small pebble as a memento but 20 stones to do your garden is cheeky, use a garden centre like this rest of us and pay for them.

Stones form part of our coast natural defences against the sea. Imagine if everyone in your town just took 20 stones for their garden, wouldn't millions left then.

[MamaChoo]

Sea glass is actually rubbish, so it comes under the heading of 'community minded clearing and recycling'. But yes, you cant take stones off the beach. Dont know what the shell situation is.

[PlentyOfPrimroses]

technically it's stealing but I don't think the police would appreciate having to deal with it. Different if it was a commercial operation removing tons of them and selling them.

I don't think shells are covered though - they're a fish by-product and you're allowed to fish.

I have stacks of beach stones I've collected over the years. In practice, you're just moving them. They'll still be there after you're dead and will eventually find their way back into the soil. Fast forward a few million years and the sea will probably reclaim them through erosion.

[squeakytoy]

Taking away one stone probably wouldnt bother anyone, but lugging half the beach away is a bit of a piss take, and yes, it is illegal.

[OddBoots]

I don't think garden centres and DIY shops would sell them for so much if you were allowed to go and take them in volume.

[firsttimer84]

Wow I didn't know this. For my wedding favours, my in-laws and I picked loads of stones from our annual holiday beach and painted them with everyones names on. Oops.

[WhoAteMySnickers]

I think there's a difference between collecting a few stones or pretty shells, and collecting 20 stones, presumably not particularly small stones, for your garden border.

It's a bit like going to the local park and picking a big bunch of daffodils. It's just not right IMO.

[bittersweetvictory]

katz my nearest garden centre is about 2 miles away and the stones cost from £1 to £5, i can see the shore from my doorstep so my mates would probably think id gone insane if i bought them.

[highsummer]

Wasn't someone prosecuted for letting their dog take a stick out of the park a couple of years ago?

[bittersweetvictory]

squeekytoy half the beach 20 stones out of 64848465757 million is hardly half the beach.

[Hassled]

It's to do with coastal erosion or something. Those stones are protecting us from the sea - if everyone nicks 20 then we're swimming up shit creek.

[Asinine]

She steals sea shells on the sea shore
The shells that she steals are sea shell I'm sure

[garlicnutter]

Where I used to live (Sussex coast), the beaches had to be reinforced with imported sand & pebbles, as well as those wooden buttress things. After I found that out, I understood why it's illegal to pinch buckets of the stuff.

Luckily, I had already pinched several buckets of stones for my garden

I took them back to the beach when I moved away. I like to think of them, happily meeting all their old pebble pals, going for a homecoming paddle when the tide comes in.

[katz]

bitter - i'm sorry but my response to that is tough, taking 20 stones off of the beach is stealing. There are some really nice flowers growing the park i can see from my window, however i wouldn't go and take them because that would be stealing.

[PlentyOfPrimroses]

Perhaps the trick is to steal them one at a time, given that the beach is so close. I did this with bread crates for an art project once.

[joric]

ezinearticles.com/?Make-Sure-Your-Garden-Beach-Pebbles-Come-From-a-Sustainable-Resource&id=2077406

[Pandemoniaa]

I realise that you've only taken 20 out of the 64848465757 million on the beach. But what if everyone took 20? It might seem ridiculous to you but wait until the sea defences fail and your house is flooded. Things might not seem quite as silly then.