WORK to recover an £850,000 digger stuck in the sea for two months is to start in the next week.

The 80-tonne machine, affectionately nick-named 'Moby Dig', has become a familiar sight off Lancing beach.

The digger had finished backfilling cable duct trenches dug along the seabed as part of the construction of the Rampion Windfarm when it got stranded.

It was originally planned to retrieve the machine from land but due to its position, it became clear it would have to be done at sea instead.

A specialist crane vessel known as the Cormorant is being brought in to get the digger out.

Development and stakeholder manager for the project Chris Tomlinson said: "We want to thank people for bearing with us over the last couple of months while we’ve planned the vehicle recovery and we also welcome the interest the local community has continued to show in the project.

“On planning the recovery, for operational and safety purposes, further seabed preparation including surveys and assessments have been required to bring a suitable vessel to the nearshore site, all of which takes time.

“As always, safety remains our highest priority and with this being a relatively near shore operation, we ask people to stay clear and not to enter the water whilst the recovery takes place, and that any commercial and recreational vessels and pleasure crafts keep a minimum distance of 250m from the recovery vessel at all times.”

The recovery operation is expected to take around two days to complete, depending on weather conditions.