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Mumbles: Digger left on beach swamped by high tide

John Britton diggerJohn Britton
The machine became stranded after a mechanical failure

A driver dug a hole for himself after the excavator he left on a beach became swamped by the tide.

The machine was spotted stuck in Swansea Bay on Thursday after it suffered a mechanical failure.

Contractor Knights Brown said nobody was injured and the environmental risk was negligible due to the digger having used biodegradable oil.

But it said spill booms had been used as a precaution.

Passerby John Britton joked that the scene was Mumbles' "newest tourist attraction".

John Britton John BrittonJohn Britton
Contractor Knights Brown said the environmental risk was "negligible"

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the driver's colleagues reportedly serenaded him with Blondie's The Tide Is High.

The excavator was in Swansea Bay as part of upgrade work to the seawall in Mumbles.

The contractor said recovery vehicles would be used to retrieve the machine at low tide in the coming days.

Four years ago, a crane was partially submerged at Mumbles Pier after getting stuck in mud.