A fight to save a baby whale stranded on the beach at Holland-on-Sea ended in failure.

The 12-ft long Minke whale was spotted on the shoreline near The Chase just before 9am yesterday.

Clacton's two lifeboat crews helped in the rescue along with Clacton and Walton coastguard officers. They tended to the whale while waiting for wildlife experts from Romford to arrive.

About 12 crew members poured water on to the whale to keep its temperature down. However, the whale, which was believed to be about one-year-old, was very underweight and had suffered serious damage.

And following advice from London Zoo, it was decided to put the whale down with a lethal injection.

A taurpaulin sheet was pulled over the whale to hide the final deed from the crowd of onlookers who had gathered to watch the rescue bid.

Steve Moffatt, Clacton coastguard sector manager, said it was believed the young whale had got lost from its mother.

He said: "It is a great shame. We were trying to reduce its stress level and keep it calm."

Mr Moffatt said if the teams trying to save the whale had lifted it into the water, they could have damaged its organs and it could have died. He did not believe it had been on the beach for long before the alarm was raised.

RSPCA officer Jim Farr, Clacton vet Alan Robinson and wildlife expert Anthony Bloom from Brightlingsea were also at the scene today giving advice.

Mr Bloom said: "Unfortunately it was very skinny and in a poor condition. It would have be wrong to just throw it back out to sea without its mother."

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