A small vessel from the USA has been washed up on a Pembrokeshire beach just over three months after being launched into the Atlantic ocean.

The boat-shaped structure was discovered on Swanlake Beach, Manorbier by Robert Morgan of Tenby.

It is one of three five-foot-long craft from schools in Maryland, USA that were put into the sea on June 14, 2016.

Each carries messages from the school and a GPS tracking device and they are part of the Educational Passages programme which educates youngsters about the sciences of the world's oceans.

Sent by Kent School, Chestertown, Maryland, the container bears the message: “When found, please deliver this model to the local middle school, ages 12-14.

“Open the watertight compartment for email, contacts, addresses and other items.”

Mr Morgan, who regularly visits Swanlake Beach to pick up rubbish, has shared pictures of his find on Facebook.

He posted:“All the years I’ve been picking up rubbish, I finally found a time capsule boat from Maryland School.”

Mr Morgan said he was unable to move the container himself as it weighed “a ton”, but Tenby’s Greenhill School has now been contacted in the hope that they will be able to pick it up.

Added Mr Morgan: “I think it’s amazing, something been going around the sea for months.”