Plastic bottle found encased in Cornwall cave limestone

The pink detergent bottle is likely to have been in the cave for a long time because of the rate at which limestone grows

The bottle is likely to have been in the cave for decades (Beach Guardian)

This startling picture shows a plastic bottle wedged into a limestone formation in a cave on the north Cornish coast near Padstow.

The time it would have taken for the limestone to build up around what appears to be a washing detergent bottle – the average growth rate is 0.13 mm a year – suggests it has been there for decades. The limestone has even grown through the handle.

It was discovered by Rob Stevenson, who co-founded Beach Guardian, a clean-up community group based in Cornwall, with his daughter Emily.