ROTTING SEAWEED TOXIC FUME ALERT

British holidaymakers have been warned to avoid beaches in northern France because of toxic fumes from rotting seaweed. One stretch of beach at Saint-Michel-en-Greve in Brittany has already been shut after a horse rider lost consciousness and his horse died. In another case, a council worker paid to clear beaches of the noxious plants was taken to hospital in a coma. The French Institute for Sea Research and Exploitation, said: "We would advise people to avoid the beaches in this area as the seaweed can give off hydrogen sulphide fumes. "This is all a result of a problem with agriculture. Nitrates have got into the water and polluted it."A crust forms over stacks of rotting seaweed and when this crust is broken, fumes get out. It can be particularly lethal to dogs and other animals."