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 ?

If it's stealing, then the pebbles must belong to someone. And unless I'm mistaken, all the pebbles just get left, on the beach, all the time, in higgledy piggledy heaps, without being tidied up or guarded or listed on a pebble-register or anything, which is very careless, and implies that the owner of the pebbles couldn't care less about them

Yes jennypenny I own them! As does EVERYONE else! And I DO care about them....exactly as they are thank you.

sarahstratton Seemy post above. Anyone who takes them is damaging the coastline. How many times does that need to be said?

You wouldn't be saying it was a "discraceful waste of police time" if there were no decent beaches to visit would you? Or if there were never any flowers to look at in the forest?

This attitude STINKS.

You say "unless theyre doing it on a large scale"

What constitutes a large scale? You taking 20? Plus my neighbour...and thousands of others EVERY YEAR?

you should have taken them one at a time

we live long way from the sea so I don't mind reallly, it would be nicer if the sea was a bit closer... keep taking stones and it will be on your doorstep... and a bit closer to me!

You appear somewhat hysterical. I suspect you're Exagerrating somewhat re "destroying" the Coastline too. Doesn't appear anyone has been prosectuted; I suspect it's v unlikely they would have a legal leg to stand on, if it's such a big problem I'm sure they would prosecute.

I imagine that the police have bigger fish to fry, but sometimes people have taken pebbles by the sackload and been prosecuted. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4193481/TV-garden-makeovers-blamed-for-beach-ruin.html. The beach in the article was, I'm told, closed to visitors for a while because it got out of hand.

If I appear hysterical then you appear ignorant and I know which one I would rather be.

There must be someone, somewhere stealing all our pebbles (and twigs) for Pebbley-shit

That article doesn't mention anyone actually being prosecuted?

It's illegal and antisocial, so yes, YABU.

Help yourself from here and see what they say

Goodness, PEBBLEGATE who'd have thought it..

It's antisocial but it also bad for the environment. Basically, you don't have the right to muck up the environment because it belongs to everyone.

There is a nature reserve near where we live that has one of the largest concentration of wild daffodils anywhere in the UK. They are really beautiful. Every year, people who visit the site pick 'just a bunch' to take home. Eventually, they will destroy the daffodils.

If you (and all your neighbours) take enough shells, you damage the chances of hermit crabs and other sealife surviving, so you destroy native wildlife. If you take enough pebbles, you destroy the natural environment of the beach.

Put it like this: if I take my dog to the beach and let her shit on it, what's the big deal? The beach is enormous - it will wash away - who cares - it's only one dog?

But that would make most people see red because if everyone does it the beach will be a shithole.

You are shitting up the environment. So... don't!

That's right Revolting it's this "My bit won't count" that makes me FUME! It's as bad as throwing litter on the street...jst not as instantly visibly damaging.

OP - I think everyone is over-reacting just slightly!

Bollocks.

Reason to be very glad not to live in the UK #54896.

vanilla - overreacting? - if everyone just helped themselves to things which nature put there then image what parks would end up looking like, streams, rivers, the countryside and beaches the list is endless. Like someone higher up said 'take nothing but pictures and memories and leave nothing but footprints'

Why Mrs Teak? Do they just let people shit on beaches where you live?

Just back from the shore with a load of stones up my jumper
this from RevoltingPeasant made me lol
The other thing OP is if you are taking shells, you may be deprived animals of their habitats! Hermit crabs use them, obv, and so do other invertebrates/ crustaceans. You definitely shouldn't take lots of shells, ideally not even more than 1-2.
c,mon get real, where did i even mention shells.
i wasnt taking any stones from the sea defence walls, the shore is 3 miles long with stones as far as the eye can see.

I took some stones from a beach in Wales for my mum's garden once. That evening we were having a bbq with some friends and I pointed out mum's new display of Welsh stones for people to admire. I was gob smacked when one of my mum's friends suddenly got all irate, saying it was completely illegal and I should be ashamed of myself. I really thought she was going to report me.

I thought the point here was taking, not depositing?

Where I live we seem far less hysterical about, well, just about everything. I can pretty certain the police would not be knocking on your door asking you about purloined pebbles.

Shitting, taking parts of the coastline which are part of the delicate eco system...its all the same. It spoils it.

How ridiculous. They're just stones.

FFS. They're not just stones...on some beaches they support the cliffs! Some beaches have been seriously depleted by people taking them...and they form part of an ECO SYSTEM!