Contractors are cutting-up the carcass before it's taken away from Norfolk beach

Contractors are currently on Old Hunstanton beach removing the dead sperm whale which has been there since Christmas Eve.

The whale, which became a tourist attraction, has been cut up and put into sealed skips which will take the parts to landfill.

The wind direction is currently in their favour as it's blowing offshore, taking the smell of the decomposing carcass with it.

A warning had been issued to visitors urging them not to touch the body, or allow their dogs to contact it directly, as it was decomposing on the sand.

The Health Protection Agency and Food Standards Agency issued a joint statement which also warned watersport participants to stay away.

It also said that shellfish collected in the area of the carcase should not be eaten.

Police yesterday confirmed they are taking no further action against a west Norfolk youth who advertised the teeth and jaw from a dead sperm whale at Old Hunstanton on Facebook.

A page appeared on the social network site selling 15 loose teeth and 11 still in the jaw at �5 each or �45 for the jaw. The page was removed once police were alerted to it.

Officers launched an investigation as selling any part of a dead sperm whale is illegal and anyone trying to trade would be liable to prosecution.

'Inquiries continue into other reports of the theft and sale of whale remains linked to the sperm whale washed up on the beach at Old Hunstanton,' said a police spokesman.

The huge body became a ghoulish tourist attraction and thousands of people travelled to the Norfolk coast resort over the holiday to have a look.

The whale is believed to have died some time ago and is decomposing on the beach from where it will probably have to be removed in the next few days.

Scientists from the Zoological Society have already taken samples from the animal.